


A Day In the Life

by iamtheunknown15



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Detectives, Drama, F/F, Family, Femslash, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, One Shot Collection, Queer Themes, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:39:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8116792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtheunknown15/pseuds/iamtheunknown15
Summary: Set in the "Always You: Take 2" universe. A series of one-shots about Alex and Olivia from dating to work to marriage to life with their three kids. I take requests!





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU

Author’s Note: Thank you for checking out my new A/O one-shot series! As indicated in the description, this story takes place in the “Always You” universe. If you haven’t read “Always You” it may be useful in understanding where some of the characters and plots are coming from.

For this series, I’m really looking for your input! Either in the comments or through PM, let me know any one-shots you would like to see. They don’t have to be full prompts or ideas – anything that’ll give me some thoughts. I’m excited to collaborate more with those following the story.

So far I’ve received a couple of requests: a fic on Alex and Olivia’s decision to have another child after their miscarriage/ more of a background on Sadie

I wanted to get this series up so I could start receiving suggestions for one-shots, so here is a short one to start us off!

\- iamtheunknown15

Tropical Storm Hermine

Set in 2016: Olivia (48), Alex (42), Mia (7), Sadie (4), Noah (1)  
Rating: M (all adult content has an in-text warning before it starts – most of the story is G)

Summer 2016 in Manhattan had been particularly humid. The air was thick and heavy, its sticky moisture enveloping your skin every time you walked outside. Trips to the park had proven unbearable unless they involved playing in the sprinklers, and the mugginess only seemed to intensify the subway’s unique odor.

By the time summer was coming to a close, the start of school just around the corner, Olivia and Alex Cabot-Benson were desperate for some kind of relief from the steamy conditions. The sergeant, for one, had a job that involved too much running around to make the heat desirable, and the ADA – while indoors at work – had been bearing the brunt of the responsibility of bathing the couple’s three sweaty, squirmy children after their days spent scuttling around outside at day camp and day care.

What neither woman anticipated, however, was the cataclysmic clash of a hot and cold front that occurred just before Labor Day, resulting in Tropical Storm Hermine. While the impact of the storm was proving to be less dramatic than anticipated, the family was spending the better part of the last few days before the start of the school year stuck inside due to thunderstorms.

Today was a particularly strong one, and Olivia felt she had all but been blown home from work by the wind. By the time she arrived home, her clothing was completely drenched in spite of the rain trench that she wore. Her blonde wife chuckled from the couch as she watched the brunette pad across the wooden floor in the living room, grimacing from the sensation of soaking wet socks. “Did you have to build a raft to get back,” she joked.

“Not yet, although a pal like Huckleberry Finn would come in handy right now,” the sergeant replied, taking a seat in the arm chair and peeling the sodden fabric off of her feet. “How was your day?”

“Not bad,” Alex said, closing one of the manila folders in front of her. “Just finished up some prep for the Xavier trial.”

Olivia quirked an eyebrow. “I’m surprised the kids let you get any work done,” she stated with a chuckle. “Where is our motley crew anyway?”

“Mia and Sadie are helping Noah get ready for bedtime,” Alex grinned, standing up and walking over to her wife to finally greet her with a kiss. “I’m surprised they didn’t hear you come in…” Normally, when either the blonde or brunette arrived home from work, their brood bolted to meet them at the door.

“Probably couldn’t over the thunder,” Olivia suggested. “Wicked, wicked storm.” As if on cue to her words, a large crackle of thunder banged followed by the lights in the family’s brownstone flickering slightly.

“Mama!” Alex and Olivia heard their two daughters cry out. They headed down the hall to Noah’s bedroom. Mia and Sadie were standing wide-eyed and frightened.

“Mommy, you’re home!” Sadie shrieked, rushing into her brunette mother’s arms.

“The lights were flickering,” Mia explained nervously. “Mommy, Mama, are the lights going to out?”

“I’m not sure, Mia,” Alex replied, walking over to scoop Noah off of the ground, where he was crawling with his onesie half undone. Snapping the rest of the buttons closed, she continued, “We’ll have to just wait and see. But for now, how about you give Mommy a kiss hello and finish getting ready for bed.”

The blonde girl pondered her mother’s response for a moment, clearly skeptical, but ultimately complied. “Hi Mommy,” she greeted Olivia, giving her a hug and kiss.

“Hey baby girl,” the sergeant grinned. “How was camp today?”

“The cabin is gross when we can’t go outside,” Mia lamented, rolling her eyes. “But we made these,” she said, holding out her wrists to reveal a stack of embroidery floss friendship bracelets.

“Very cool! Did you trade them?”

“Yep!” Mia explained excitedly, showing her mom which of her friends each of the bands was from.

“What about you, Miss Sadie,” Olivia asked the younger girl, gently pulling the girl’s hand away from her face to stop her from sucking her thumb – a habit she and Alex were trying to break the tiny brunette of.

“We drawded more pictures and painted rwocks. I show you?”

“Oh course, sweetheart!” Olivia replied excitedly. Just as they were about to head towards the kitchen where Sadie’s projects were, however, there was a large bolt of lightning outside followed by complete darkness. Power outage.

Both Mia and Sadie let out blood-curdling screams, in turn startling their younger brother and spurring him to cry.

“Shh, shh it’s okay, Noah,” Alex soothed gently, rocking the toddler on her hip. She squinted to try to make out the location of her daughters and wife but the room was pitch black. Luckily, Olivia had her phone in her pocket and switched on the flashlight app. “Okay, girls, it’s going to be alright,” she comforted. “Can the two of you find your way over to me carefully while Mommy goes and gets more flashlights?”

“But if Mommy leawves it’ll be dawrk again,” Sadie whimpered, holding on to the brunette even more tightly. Alex sighed.

“Hey, guys, this isn’t bad!” Olivia countered enthusiastically. “We can make a fun adventure out of it.”

“An adventure,” Mia asked skeptically.

Olivia nodded. “Yeah! How about we all camp out in the living room for now? We can light some candles and read some stories together and play cards…”

“Okay, Mommy,” Sadie agreed cheerfully, becoming far less anxious by the outage.

“That does sound like fun…” Mia said with a smile.

“Great. Now, first things first, everyone needs to hold hands and follow me out to the living room,” Olivia instructed, leading the troops down the hall. Once they got there, they tasked themselves with grabbing the pillows and blankets off of the couches and from a couple of storage baskets, creating a comfortable puddle in the middle of the floor. Meanwhile, Olivia grabbed a few spare flashlights, handing one to each of her daughters. As she went over to the kitchen to light some candles, she gave the girls another request. “Mia, can you please hold Noah while Mama and Sadie take one of the flashlights and get some books and games?” As the seven-year-old kept her brother occupied, the other Cabot-Bensons finished setting up their power outage campsite. 

When all was said and done, Olivia took a step back and observed their set up: Alex and the kids were cuddled up against a pile of pillows, her wife with a story book in hand. The soft glow of candles and more stringent flash lights illuminated the room softly. Smiling, Olivia nestled next to Mia, scooping Noah on to her lap as Alex began to read. “Once upon a time…”

The power outage proved persistent. Before long, a very sleepy Noah had drifted off, and Olivia had taken him back to his room to rest in his crib for the night. The couple and their two older children, however, stayed up far past the girls’ bedtimes, laughing and giggling as they read more stories, told jokes, and played “Old Maid.” By some stroke of (un)luckiness, Olivia had gotten stuck with the Old Maid card each time, and her daughters were relentlessly amused by teasing her about her own age (“The Old Maid must know you is old like her!” Sadie had kidded, causing her older sister to cackle). Meanwhile, Alex had also let her daughter practice the braiding she was learning at camp on her silky blonde locks. While they were perhaps more like knots than braids, Mia was so proud of her handiwork that even Alex, in all of her perfectionism, couldn’t mind that her hair was being tangled. Olivia couldn’t help but smile – motherhood had certainly melted the “Ice Princess.”

By about ten, however, even the very excited Cabot-Benson girls were beginning to grow tired. “Mommy,” Sadie yawned while curling up against Alex, “When will the lights come back?”

“Probably by morning, Sade,” said the older brunette.

“Will it still be rainy?” Mia asked.

“Actually, according to the forecast, it should be pretty sunny,” Alex replied, after checking her iPhone.

“Yay!” Mia exclaimed with a wide grin. “We should go to bed now then or Sadie and I are going to be tired for swimming lessons.” Quite pleased that their daughters seemed to be overcoming their fear of the dark, the couple led them back to their bedroom, tucking them both in and leaving them each with a flashlight should they need it. Using Olivia’s phone light once more to navigate themselves back to the living room, the couple then straightened up the pillows and blankets and gathered up the candles. 

Just as Alex was about to extinguish some of the last flames, however, Olivia stopped her. “Save those so we have something to get back to the bedroom with,” she instructed.

Alex furrowed her brow. “Can’t we just use our phones again?” she asked.

“Yeah, but that’s far less romantic,” Olivia replied with a sheepish grin.

The attorney quirked an eyebrow and gave her wife a coy smile. “Romantic? What exactly do you have in mind for the rest of the evening, sergeant?” 

“You’ll see, counselor.”

Heading into the master bedroom, the couple placed the remaining candles on their nightstands. Olivia then turned and smiled at her wife, who looked comfortable and relaxed in a pair of light-weight jogger sweatpants and a tank top, her hair still mussed from their daughter’s stylings. Candlelight danced on her pale skin, illuminating the slight flush it held from her anticipation. After all of these years, Alex looked even more beautiful than the first time Olivia saw her walk into the precinct.

Alex walked towards her wife, placing her hands on the brunette’s hips. “I love you,” she said with a soft smile, looking into the sergeant’s deep brown eyes.

Olivia grinned. “I love you too.” [M-rated content – innocent eyes beware] The older woman moved to press her lips against Alex’s, capturing her in a long, sensuous kiss. Allowing her hands to roam her wife’s lithe body, Olivia toyed with the hem of her white tank top before pulling in off, revealing the blonde’s full breasts. After her pregnancies, they had changed in size, also loosing some of their natural perkiness, but Olivia had long since diffused all of Alex’s insecurities, proving through her actions just how much she appreciated her wife’s body. Bending down to take one of the firm, pink nipples into her mouth, Olivia groped the attorney’s other breast as she teased her with her tongue. Alex let out a soft moan, tangling her fingers in the sergeant’s dark brown hair. 

When Olivia eventually lifted her head, the blonde tasked herself with unbuttoning her wife’s shirt, quickly ridding her of the garment along with her black, lace-accented bra. Kissing a trail haphazardly down her wife’s torso, Alex lowered herself to her knees. The attorney unfastened the brunette’s slacks and slipped her pants and underwear down her legs so they pooled on the ground. Spreading the older woman’s legs slightly, she drew her index finger slowly through Olivia’s folds, moistening the digit and earning a groan from the sergeant. Smirking in satisfaction at her wife’s response, Alex pressed her face against Olivia’s vulva, placing a kiss on the neatly trimmed dark patch of curls covering it. She then slipped her tongue languidly across the woman’s cunt. 

She continued to pleasure her wife with her mouth until Olivia felt herself teetering on the edge. Stepping backwards, Olivia helped Alex to her feet before slipping the blonde’s sweats and cotton thong off of her. As Alex kicked them aside, she gave her wife a hungry look. “I want you to fill me,” she husked.

Inhaling sharply at Alex’s request, Olivia smiled and opened one of the bedside drawers while Alex scooted on to the bed. Grabbing the double-ended dildo the couple had recently purchased, situating it within a leather harness. Alex leaned over, beckoning the brunette to come closer to the edge of the bed. Grabbing the long end of the dildo, the blonde helped guide the smaller end of the member into her wife’s slit. Olivia let out a groan of approval before she completed adjusting the straps to the harness. When she finished, Alex looked up at her seductively. “How do you want me?”

“Get on your knees,” Olivia rasped, watching in pleasure as her wife flipped over on the bed, positioning herself so her firm ass hung over the edge. Unable to control herself, Olivia bent over and placed a sharp love bite on one of the cheeks.

“Hey!” Alex said, looking over her shoulder, trying to hide her amused smirk.

Olivia gave her a mischievous look. “You know how much I love your ass,” she defended.

“Yes, I see you checking it out in court all of the time,” the blonde chuckled.

Olivia nodded. “And you also know, counselor, that sometimes when we’re in court and I’m watching your ass, I’m thinking of how much I just want to bend you over the table right then and there…”

Leaving her wife with that visual, Olivia gently glided the dildo into Alex’s vagina, pausing to make sure that the blonde was able to adjust.

“Please,” Alex breathed, instinctually pressing backwards to guide the cock deeper into her.

That was the cue Olivia was waiting for. Wasting no time with teasing, Olivia picked up a steady pace of thrusting, feeling her own arousal rise from the combination of the pressure against her G-spot and the mewing sounds Alex was currently making as she drove into her. While their sex life was rather versatile – both women preferring to assume different roles in the bedroom at different times – there were some nights where Alex wanted nothing more than to give up all of her control, trusting her wife to fuck her however she liked. While it had taken Olivia some time to be able to trust herself in such a dominant role – her own deeply rooted fears about her genetics coming into play when the two first started experimenting more in bed – the brunette was far more comfortable now and enjoyed everything from teasing the attorney till she thought she would burst to fucking her fast and hard. Like now.

Olivia’s hands gripped around Alex’s hips as the blonde bounced back and forth, up and down the cock, both women’s sighs of pleasure escalated into amorous moans as they both came closer and closer to climax. Soon unable to hold out much longer, Olivia finally angled the dildo just so, knowing it would rub against Alex’s most sensitive spot. And it did – sending the blonde into a powerful orgasm, the brunette following in suit not long after. The two remained like that, collapse on top of the bed and one another, still connected by the toy, for several minutes as they recovered. After catching her breath, however, Olivia carefully pulled out of the blonde, who winced slightly at the sudden emptiness, before removing the rest of the harness and dildo and heading towards the master bedroom. While in the past, the couple tended to leave their “accessories” lying around until the next morning to clean up, a couple of close calls with their children taught them that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once everything was cleaned up and put away, pajamas also put back on, both women curled up in bed together in a comfortable silence, Olivia resting her head on Alex’s chest as the attorney ran her fingers through the brown tendrils. Olivia had just begun to doze off when she heard Alex’s voice.

“Remind me to wish for a power outage more often.”

Laughing, Olivia shook her head at her wife’s comment before giving her one last kiss goodnight. Tangled up in their sheets and one another, smiles on their faces, the two finally succumbed to a peaceful sleep.


	2. Nightmares Pt 1

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates! I’m a student and work part-time, so sometimes life is too hectic for me to write : ( I’ll try to get the next bit up within a couple of days though!

Nightmares, Part 1

Setting: April 2011 (skewing with the timeline of the canon a bit with when “Witness happened”)

Olivia sighed heavily as she inserted the key into the front door, twisting it open quickly to escape the still brisk air of early Spring nights. It was late. And she was exhausted.

The past six months had been, quite frankly, hell. Both she and Alex were still in the process of grieving the loss of their son in October, a pain that sometimes physically overwhelmed the brunette detective with its visceralness. At the hospital, the couple had made progress in trying to cope with the loss together, but in the months following each woman seemed to have retreated further into herself. In February, Alex had made the decision to travel to the Congo for several weeks, taking a brief leave of absence from the DA’s office to work with the International Crime Court and – although this was an unspoken truth – to take some space to sort through her fraught state of mind. Olivia had tried to be supportive, but balancing work, caring for a toddler, and a long distance relationship had been no easy task. She was thankful for Kathy, who helped care for Mia as she tried to manage SVU’s ever-expanding case load. After a couple of weeks, the detective had started to get into a groove, and Mia had adjusted to her new routine, especially because Alex facetimed with the pair religiously in spite of the time difference.

But then, out of nowhere, it happened. 

Last month, Elliot shot a teenage girl who opened fire in the precinct. Since going on administrative leave, Elliot had quite literally disappeared from her life. She was worried about her partner – unsure of what state of mind he must be in. And she felt entirely alone. Elliot had been the one fairly constant in her life for over a decade, someone she was almost always able to lean on. He was the only person she had been able to open up to about Max. And he was gone without any clear indication of when he would be back. Alex had just returned from the Congo, but Olivia still felt an emptiness that she couldn’t put into words. Instead, she threw herself into her own work – currently, the investigation of a rape case involving a high-powered foreign diplomat. Olivia had hardly slept all week.

Stepping into the entry way, the detective kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat before heading down the hallway into the living room. “Hi sweetheart,” she greeted the blonde who was curled up on the couch under a blanket with an ICC case file. Alex looked up at the wearied brunette with a soft smile before receiving a tired but tender kiss. “How is Mia?”

“She dozed off a couple of hours ago. God, I missed her so much.” The detective smiled softly. “You want to go see her?”

“Nah, she’s been sleeping really lightly lately. I don’t want to stir her.”

Alex nodded. “How are things at the precinct?” she asked, flipping the manila folder in front of her closed and shifting her attention Olivia.

The brunette sighed heavily as she headed into the attached kitchen. “A mess. Distasio is relying on his political connections. And Cragen has me babysitting Rollins,” she vented, pouring herself a generous glass of wine. “Want any?” she offered, holding up the bottle.

Alex shook her head. “No thank you. Well, at least he’s remanded to Riker’s right now. Hopefully that will buy you guys some time without worrying about him making a run for it.” She watched as Olivia headed towards the arm chair across from the couch. “Hey, come here,” she implored gently, shifting so the detective could sit with her. Cradling the detective in her arms, she continued, “Have you found anything else on prior victims?”

Olivia shook her head. “Nope, but that shouldn’t be surprising. After all, we’re working down, and Cragen seems more concerned with training new blood than solving the case.”

The blonde placed a soft kiss on her jawline. “Any word on Elliot?”

Alex felt Olivia stiffen. “Nope.”

“I’m sure he’ll…”

“He’s been on leave a month. I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Olivia replied curtly, abruptly getting off of the couch and taking a long drink, causing Alex to furrow her brow with concern. “I’m going to head to bed. I’m exhausted.”

Alex nodded. “Mind if I join?”

“Of course, Lex.”

The couple headed to their bedroom in silence, a tension that remained unbroken as they dressed and washed for bed. Whereas in the past they might have stayed up talking, as they slipped into bed, Olivia flicked off the bedside lamp, enveloping the room in darkness. Alex smiled softly as she felt the brunette curl up against her, providing her with a sense of comfort that made what she had to tell the detective much easier.

“So I went to the doctor today,” Alex’s voice pierced into the silence.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry Lex, I completely forgot.”

“It’s okay,” Alex assuaged, giving her wife’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I know how stressful the past couple of months have been on you and…”

“How did it go?” Olivia interrupted.

“Dr. Gil said that I’m doing very well. That uh, well all of my levels are completely normal. And there doesn’t appear to be any long term damage from – you know…”

“That’s wonderful, baby,” Olivia said with a genuine smile as she sat up to place a kiss on the attorney’s forehead. “I’m so so glad, Al.”

Alex quickly wrapped her arms around the brunette, relaxing into the loving embrace that she was met with – something she had been longing for her entire absence. Something she never wanted to lose…

“Um-“ she practically whispered, running her fingers through the strands of her wife’s hair to ease her own nervousness. “So when Dr. Gil was checking my bloodwork—Well, we realized something.” Alex couldn’t see Olivia’s face in the room’s darkness, but she sensed the brunette’s confusion. “I was – Well I am ovulating.”

Alex felt Olivia grow tense. “Oh, well okay,” she replied, clearly unsure of the implication of her wife’s words.

Alex felt her pulse pounding in her veins. Her words came out frenetically. “Yeah um so, we hadn’t expected that. I guess my cycle is still a little bit off. So um, it was a surprise. And well, because it’s been enough time, I asked Dr. Gil – well, Dr. Gil agreed to –“

“Alex, I’m really not understanding you, sweetheart. Is everything okay?”

The attorney nodded. “Yes, yes everything is okay. More than okay. I mean, Liv, I might be pregnant.”

Olivia felt her mouth gaping. “You what – how?” Olivia paused, a dark fear suddenly occurring to her. “Alex, did something happened when you were away?” she asked nervously.

Alex furrowed her brow. “What – oh, no. God no, Olivia, nothing like that,” she assured, grabbing her wife’s hands. “No, um, I had Dr. Gil perform an insemination today. To try to get pregnant again.”

For a moment, Olivia felt like everything had frozen as she absorbed what Alex was telling her. Feeling her wife’s palms grow flushed against her own, Alex tried to patiently await the detective’s response but soon grew too anxious. “Liv? Baby, please say something,” she whimpered.

This seemed to break the brunette out of her trance. “What the actual fuck, Alex?” Olivia snapped, grabbing her hands away and practically jumping out of the bed, flipping on the bedside lamp.

“I thought –“

Olivia scoffed. “You thought? So like, you actually let your brain process this decision. You, Miss Ivy-League educated, hot-shot attorney, thought that it would be a good idea to have Dr. Gil inseminate you without me there? Hell, without you even talking to me about it?”

Alex’s dejected gaze remained downward as she played with the edge of the duvet cover. “I just wanted to – “

“That’s just it, Alex. You wanted something. You wanted to do this. Just like you wanted to run off to the Congo with hardly a thought of what that would do to me. To Mia. You’re selfish, Alex,” Olivia spat, voice ragged with unreleased emotion.

By now, the blonde was in tears, her face panic-stricken as she stood up and tried to approach the detective. “I – I didn’t know what to do,” she sobbed, “I thought going away would make it better,” she said, placing her hands on Olivia’s forearms.

The brunette didn’t react to her touch. “Well, you thought wrong.”

“Olivia, please. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I shouldn’t have made either of those decisions without you.” She examined her wife’s unreadable face closely, trying to get a sense of where her mind was. “Please, please tell me what your thinking.”

Olivia met Alex’s eyes with a piercing glare. “Honestly, Alex, right now I’m thinking that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here with you.”

Alex recoiled as though she had been slapped. Suddenly, the sound of Mia’s crying echoed through the room through the baby monitor. When Alex moved, Olivia held up a hand to stop her. “Stay.”

Leaving the stunned and shaken blonde in her wake, the detective headed down the hallway into their daughter’s room, composing herself before entering. “Hey sweet girl,” Olivia greeted, scooping the toddler into her arms. 

Taking comfort in her mother, Mia quieted, snuggling against the older woman. “Hi mommy.”

“Hi baby,” Olivia replied, swaying the little blonde. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Mia nodded. “Where Mama?”

“Mama is in our bedroom sleeping. But everything is okay now, baby,” Olivia lied. “Don’t be scared.”

“Mon-stewrs?”

“No monsters, baby. Just you, me, and Mama. Come on now, let’s get you back into bed,” Olivia coaxed, settling Mia back under her blankets and placing a kiss on the little girl’s forehead. As she stood to leave, she found Mia’s wide eyes looking at her curiously.

“Mommy yewll,” the toddler said, noting the real cause of her awakening.

Olivia grimaced, running her fingers through Mia’s thin blonde hair to comfort her. “I’m sorry baby. I didn’t mean to yell and scare you. Mommy just had a nightmare too.”

A/N: This will probably be a two or three shot. Let me know what you’re thinking/things you’d like to see! I’ll do my best!


	3. Nightmares Part 2

A/N: Here’s the second and final part of “Nightmares.” This oneshot was to address how Alex and Olivia decided to try to have another child after losing Max. I’ve received a couple of requests for other oneshots so far:  
\- Alex being jealous  
\- Olivia being jealous  
\- Alex and the kids at Olivia’s promotion

I’ll get working on these, but please feel free to send more my way!

Nightmares, Part 2

Alex woke up from a fitful sleep, throat raw from many hours spent crying. She turned to face Olivia’s side of the bed. Still empty. Exhaling in an attempt to center herself, Alex slipped out from under the covers, shuddering at the cold of the hardwood floor when it touched her bare feet. It was early – only about 4:30 am. Far before either she or Olivia had to get up for work. But she knew she had little hope of falling back asleep for another hour. She had hardly been able to sleep at all in the first place.

Alex padded across the room to the master bath, grabbing her robe off of the door handle, shrugging it on over her chilled shoulders. Stepping to the vanity, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still red and puffy, grey bags starting to emerge underneath. Sighing, she splashed some cold water onto her face and quickly brushed her teeth.

She didn’t know what was the best thing to do next. On the one hand, the fact that Olivia never came back from Mia’s room didn’t bode well and likely meant that the brunette wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, Alex couldn’t just get ready for the day completely in the dark about how Olivia was – how they were. For all she knew, Olivia had dipped out of the apartment to spend the night at the crib.

Alex grimaced. The couple had fought many times in their relationship, however there were only a handful of times in which that fighting resulted in them not being able to sleep in the same bed – even fewer in which either woman didn’t come home. The couple of times that had happened, Olivia had stayed with Elliot, something that wasn’t possible right now. Her heart ached for what her wife was going through with her partner.

Resolved, Alex grabbed Olivia’s bathrobe and headed down the hallway in search of her. She peeked her head into Mia’s room, happy to find that the toddler was sleeping soundly. She worried that their daughter had woken up in a fit last night, and dreadfully acknowledge that this likely wasn’t the first time. Why hadn’t Olivia mentioned that Mia was having trouble sleeping? Of course, Alex knew the answer. Her wife didn’t want her to worry, to feel guilty even though she had made the decision to leave the continent for several weeks. The attorney’s stomach churned – she really had fucked up.

Continuing quietly down the stairs, she entered the living room and let out a breath that she hadn’t realize she had been holding when she found Olivia asleep on the couch. She hadn’t left, and Alex perhaps naively wanted to believe that this meant things weren’t as bad as they felt. Her reprieve, however, only last momentarily. As she approached her sleeping wife to give her her robe to supplement the small throw blanket draped over her, her eye caught sight of something she hadn’t been anticipating: an empty wine bottle and glass. Frowning, Alex picked up the bottle to inspect it. It was a bottle of Napa Valley merlot. Not a drink uncommon in their household – as both women enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner on occasion – but not a bottle that Alex remembered have been opened prior. Looking towards the kitchen, she spotted the cork screw and cork.

As Alex processed the situation, fury levels rising, Olivia began to stir, opening her eyes in a slight daze. Before the brunette could speak, Alex held the offending bottle out to her like a bag of evidence. “Did you drink this?”

Olivia blinked a few times, allowing herself to wake up. With a blank expression, she nodded. “Yeah, so?”

The attorney’s eyes furrowed into angry slits. “So? Olivia, you drank a whole bottle of red wine!” she spat as hushed as possible.

“You’re not my parent, Alex. I don’t need you to tell me when I should have a drink.”

“Bullshit! And quite frankly Olivia, you know as well as I do that your own mother didn’t set a great example with that.”

Olivia’s eyes widened in shock. She stood, brown eyes full of fury. Straightening her posture, she faced the blonde, faces almost touching. “What the hell did you just say?” she practically snarled.

Olivia had never hit Alex. The brunette had never even come close to hurting the blonde and, as far as Alex was concerned, was the last person on this planet who would do anything violent to her. But there was something about Olivia’s stance, about the anger in her eyes, about the tone in her voice, that made the attorney wince involuntarily, as though she was preparing for a blow.

Olivia’s entire face fell as she watched her wife’s automatic response. Did Alex think that she would hit her? Did she look as though she would? Horror settled over the detective, immediately slackening her body. “Al—“

“Get out.”

Olivia looked at her wife in shock. “Wh—“

“You heard me Olivia,” Alex replied coldly. “You downed a bottle of wine in a night. In our home. With Mia in the next room. God forbid something had happened where one of us needed you… I don’t want you around our daughter like this. I’m going to take a shower, and I don’t want to see you when I get out. We can talk after work.”

With that, Alex tossed the robe on to the couch, spun on her heel, leaving a stunned Olivia in her wake.

//Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break //

They didn’t talk after work. In fact, for the couple of days that followed, the two women hardly spoke at all. For the sake of their daughter, both women came home every night and had dinner together with Mia. They made light conversation but mostly focused on the toddler, engaging her with talking and little games in an exerted effort to call attention away from the palpable tension between them. At night, after Mia fell asleep, Olivia left for the crib. When the toddler woke up in a fit, Alex took the role of comforting her, going so far as to spend on of the nights curled up in the rocking chair in her nursery. When Mia asked where Olivia was, Alex lied through omission: “She’s sleeping.”

In the morning, Olivia would return early to get ready for work (and to avoid others knowing that she wasn’t spending the night in her own bed). She and Alex would only briefly cross paths – the attorney simply waiting for Olivia to get in before darting out the door to get to work early. Neither woman had mentioned it, but each were consumed with worry that this was the beginning of a new stage – the beginning of what separated life would look like. At work, their conversations about the Distacio case were tense and only revealed the current fissure in their relationship.

They had won part of the case – unlawful imprisonment. A slap on the wrist that sometimes made her wonder how much of this was worth it. At the end of the day, those in power were remained those in power. Still, she felt relieved that the case was over.

Trudging back into the precinct, she was met with Amanda Rollin’s anticipant eyes. “We handed the jury a mess,” the older detective shrugged. “And they split the baby.”

The younger blonde swung around in her chair, playing with the papers on her desk. “He’s gonna appeal. Claim that that perp walk was prejudicial.

“We’ll all take the hit. But at the end of the day, with this judge, he’ll do a year at Riker’s for the lesser charge.”

“Got to come over on the Mayflower in order to make a rape charge stick,” Finn chimed in from his position next to Munch.

“How’d she take it?” the older man asked.

“Hard.”

Just as everyone settled back to their desk, Cragen called her into his office, his tone casual but inflecting that something was wrong.

“Nice working with you,” Munch deadpanned.

Olivia furrowed her brow as she headed to his office. In her head, she ran over what chiding she was about to face. Her hesitance to help out with Amanda? Her doubt towards the victim’s testimony? Figuring it was the latter, she attempted to explain. “I don’t think that she was lying about being raped.”

“Would you shut the door please?”

The detective couldn’t help but betray her anxiety now as she did as instructed. This had to be serious. Had he picked up on the tension between her and Alex? Was he doubting whether or not they could work together? The air was still as she turned, looking at the captain for any sign of what he was about to say.

Cragen inhaled noticeably, bracing himself as he told the detective the worst news she possibly could received right now. “Elliot put his papers in.” He watched as his detective gazed blankly at him, her face beginning to fall as she processed the information.

Olivia nodded her head slightly. “He’s earned it,” she mustered.

“And then some.” Cragen examined his detective, whose eyes were glazed. “You wanna talk?”

Olivia shook her head slowly. “No.”

“You wanna take a day?” he asked, already anticipating the answer.

Olivia looked away, attempting to compose herself. “I’m fine,” she managed with a tight smile.

“Liv…” Cragen frowned, watching the detective that he viewed as a sort of daughter try not to crumble in front of him. “I’m sorry.”

Olivia nodded, unable to speak lest she entirely lose her resolve to stay composed. She continued to smile at the captain, nodding, before quickly heading out of the office.

Cragen watched her leave, pausing for a moment before he picked up the phone and dialed 1 Hogan Pl.

Meanwhile, Olivia continued back into the precinct, trying to seem as normal as she could. Fin, of course, picked up on the change in the female detective’s demeanor. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Be right there,” Munch said into the phone before anyone could interrogate further. “Got 1034 on Waverly,” he relayed as he put the receiver down. The older man observed Olivia sigh heavily. He had a feeling that the detective’s meeting with the captain pertained to her partner – and that it by the looks of it was bad news. “Fin, take Rollins.”

“No, I’ll go,” Olivia protested. She had to go. Had to keep on like normal. “Give me five, and we’ll roll.”

Olivia wandered aimlessly towards an unoccupied area of the precinct. Finding an empty interrogation room, she slipped inside and shut the door. Pressing her back against the blue-grey cinderblock walls, she struggled to contain her sobs but it was a losing battle. Her body hurt -- physically hurt -- from the news, and she found herself hunching over before sinking to the floor.

As she struggled to stop her crying, she couldn’t help but think of Elliot. Think of everything that they had been through together. The past decade and a half of their lives. Countless hours together, having each other’s backs. Long nights on stakeouts with coffee and laughter. How he was there for her when her mother died. There for the horrible time in which Alex was in witness protection, and the detective had all but died herself. The time she witnessed the birth of his son. The time that Gitano almost shot him.

Why didn’t he tell her himself? She understood why he needed to leave. She wouldn’t have tried to convince him otherwise. But didn’t he trust her enough to come to him? Hadn’t they trusted each other?

//Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break //

Alex’s heels clicked rapidly against the tile floor as she walked as swiftly as possible into the precinct. The detectives all looked up from their desks as she entered.

“Where is she?” the attorney asked, cutting straight to the point.

Fin gestured towards the interrogation rooms. “She headed down that way about 10 minutes ago.”

Alex nodded, turning on her heel in the direction that Fin had pointed. Rollins looked at him curiously, her brow furrowed. “Cabot?”

“She’s Olivia’s wife.”

//Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break //

Olivia wasn’t sure how long she had been crying by now. She knew it was more than five minutes, but she felt too paralyzed to move. Her entire world was crumbling before her, and it felt as though if she did anything at all, it would send the whole thing tumbling down.

The jiggling of the knob startled her. She stopped crying immediately and straightened up, unable to stand quickly before the door swung open.

Alex.

Silence fell between the two women for several moments as they just looked at one another. Alex watched in what felt like slow motion as Olivia’s face began to crumble before the brunette’s body was wracked with sobs.

Alex rushed over to Olivia’s side, crouching down next to her, face sympathetic and laced with concern. Pulling her wife’s body into her arms without protest, she held the detective as she continued to break down. “Shh, I’ve got you,” she soothed, rocking her slightly like she did Mia when the toddler had a nightmare.

Alex felt the wetness of Olivia’s tears falling on to her skin. The wracking of her body from sobbing. Heard the raspiness of her voice. The remained like that for several minutes before Olivia finally managed to choke out some words. “Take me home.”

//Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break // Page Break //

Given that Mia was still at daycare, the couple arrived home to an empty townhouse. Alex, quite frankly, was unsure of what was going to happen. Olivia had settled down enough to leave the precinct through one of the back stairwells. She was eerily quiet on her way home, gazing out the window of Alex’s Lexus the blonde drove them back to the Village, relieved that there was little traffic at that hour. When they got to their place, Olivia immediately took off up the stairs. Unsure of whether she should follow, Alex instead waited a moment. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water to keep herself occupied. She didn’t drink it. She took off her heels and slipped off her suit jacket, throwing them over the side of the couch. She waited until she couldn’t wait anymore, and then cautiously ascended the stairs.

She was heading down the hall towards their master bedroom where she assumed Olivia had gone until she noticed another door cracked open. A door the hadn’t been opened in several weeks.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before pushing the door open and entering the room. It was her former home office, but many months ago it had become a second nursery. Or at least a nursery in progress. The couple had been preparing the room for their second child’s arrival. Olivia had painted the room – once an off-white cream – into a beautiful light olive green. She had spent many hours stenciling a small mural of the outlines of Beatrice Potter characters onto one of the walls. At the time, Olivia had gotten very frustrated with the task, not being one for art. Alex had laughed at her wife’s exasperated determinedness, but secretly she found the gesture heartwarmingly adorable. Underneath the mural sat a white antique-looking crib. A small stuffed rabbit had sat inside, but currently was being held by Olivia, who was gazing out the window.

Sensing her wife’s presence, Olivia spoke before Alex could approach her – so quietly that the blonde almost couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“I can’t lose you, Alex.”

Alex creased her brow, frowning. She walked towards her wife as the brunette continued to look out the window. “You’re not going to lose me, Olivia. I want to fix this…”

Olivia shook her head. “When everything with Hoffman happened. The eclampsia.” Olivia shuddered and shook her head to dismiss the memory. Finally, she turned and met Alex’s eyes, her warm brown orbs filled with unshed tears. “I thought I was going to lose you,” the detective choked out. “Dr. Gil, she --. She wasn’t sure if she could save either of you. She said she knew they couldn’t save the baby but still, I still feel like I killed him…”

“Liv-“ Alex assuaged, taking a step closer.

The detective held up her hand to stop her. “I know logically it’s not my fault. That it’s what needed to be done. But Alex, I felt like they were asking me to choose between my wife and my son. And I love you both so much – “ Before she could continue, Olivia started to cry, and Alex embraced her. Taking comfort in her wife’s arms, Olivia eventually continued. “When you told me about the insemination, that’s all that kept going through my head. That feeling when I didn’t know if either of you were going to make it. That it could happen again. And I- I kept seeing his little face. Hearing his little cry.”

Alex frowned. She had never considered the fact that Olivia had spent three minutes with their son while he was still alive. She hadn’t because it was too painful to acknowledge that she never got that chance. But now she recognized that the only thing more painful than not getting to meet him was this. Irrationally believing that maybe he had a chance, only to hold your son as he died.

Both women were crying freely now. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. You were right. I’ve been- I’ve been so fucking selfish,” Alex sobbed, her own bitterness towards herself finally made clear. I didn’t think about what you have been going through. I’ve been so caught up in – I’ve felt empty since we lost him. Since her wasn’t here anymore,” Alex said, holding her belly. “I kept thinking I could find something to fill the emptiness without having to acknowledge that he was gone. So I left. I left you and Mia, and I will never forgive myself for that. And when that didn’t work, it’s so fucked up but I thought that maybe – “

Olivia nodded understandingly. “I wanted to be there for you,” she rasped.

“I wanted to be there for you too.”

“We can’t keep doing this. It’s not healthy.”

“I know.”

“Especially not for Mia.” Alex nodded.

“What do we do?”

Olivia rubbed her face. “I think we need to talk to someone. Together but also separately. So we can learn how to get through this.”

Alex took a moment to process the information, surprised and thankful that her wife would be open to seeing a therapist. She nodded. “Okay.”

The two were silent again for a few moments, no longer touching but still feeling a togetherness that they hadn’t in a long while. Olivia swallowed. “The wine… Alex, it scared me.” The blonde cautiously reached up and caressed the side of the brunette’s cheek with her hand, relieved when Olivia moved into as opposed to away from her touch. The detective looked at her wife directly. “I would never hit you, Alex.”

“I know that, baby.”

“But even though you know that, I made your body feel like I might. And I hate that that happened.”

Alex shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said what I did about your mother…”

“No, you were right. What I did – downing a bottle of wine to cope before falling asleep. That’s what my mother did. And I don’t want to – I can’t become that. I will not put you and Mia through that.”

Alex kissed Olivia’s forehead. “We will figure that out too. We’ll work through it with the doctor.” She felt Olivia nod tiredly.

“I love you, Olivia.”

“I love you too, Alex. And no matter what happens, I always will.”


	4. Sapphic Fantasies

A/N: A one-shot with Alex being jealous. Takes place during PC (March 2010 according to canon). So Mia is about 8 months old.

Rating: This one is like PG/T

Disclaimer: I do not own SVU. Some dialogue taken from PC.

Sapphic Fantasies

“She is out like a light,” Alex relayed as she returned to the living room, joining her brunette detective on the couch. Olivia gave her a small smile, lifting her arm so that Alex could cuddle into the crook against her side. Although she was trying to be relaxed, she was a bit nervous about sharing what had happened at work this evening with her wife. As secure as the two were in their relationship, Alex was known to have a bit of a jealous streak. The brunette almost wondered if the tiny mishap was even worth mentioning, but before she could decide, the blonde – ever intuitive – picked up on her tense demeanor.

“You okay?” Alex asked, looking up at Olivia from where she was nestled comfortably. “You’ve been quiet since you got home.”

Olivia nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine, baby,” she responded, giving Alex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “It was just… well, a weird day at work.”

Alex scoffed. “Tell me about it. McCoy has been on my back about “appearances” all day. As though because I’m a lesbian I’ll somehow be wildly radical about this case. I mean, come on. We aren’t all Babs Duffy.”

“Thankfully,” Olivia mumbled.

Alex snickered. “How did that go by the way? The detail?”

“Oh, um- it went fine,” the brunette sputtered, “I mean. You know Babs. Not one to listen to instructions. I practically had to lock up her phone and computer.”

The attorney raised an eyebrow, noting the heightened pitch of her voice. “Well, fiery as she is, I’m sure you were well-equipped to handle her, Liv,” Alex joked.

“Yeah. You know, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

Olivia sighed heavily, straightening up so she and Alex were facing each other. Grabbing one of Alex’s hands, she began to explain. “Al, this really isn’t a big deal but uh…”

One Hour Earlier

“We said no Internet,” Olivia chided, shutting Babs Duffy’s laptop as she tried to type out yet another announcement for LesBStrong.

“Hey, hey! I have a blog to report. There’s a rally tomorrow.”

“Until we catch this guy, it’s cancelled. And no secret tweeting either,” the brunette detective sighed, holding out her hand to the curly-haired red head that had been driving her insane for the better half of the evening.

“Fine, take it. I’m going crazy in here,” Babs snapped, placing the cell phone in Olivia’s hand. Like a caged animal, she pulled out the blinds looking outside.

“Try to relax away from the window, please,” Olivia instructed, wrapping her arm around the shorter woman to pull her out of the line of sight.

“That’s just it – I never relax, all right?” Babs explained frenetically as she paced around the living area. “I’ve always got to be doing something – planning or picketing or marching.”

“Why don’t you take this opportunity to have a moment alone. Try to get your head together?” Olivia offered, following the woman into her kitchen. She had to try to get Babs calmed down enough so she wouldn’t be wholly unmanageable for the uni taking over her shift for the rest of the night; however she could feel a headache coming on from the frustration. This woman is more stubborn than Alex, she thought to herself humorously.

Babs turned to face her from across the island. “’Cause I don’t do alone very well. I don’t like sitting here while that prick is out there attacking my sisters.”

Olivia could understand that sentiment. Cases that struck close to home were always more difficult. As a bisexual woman, she hated more than ever that some creep was out there trying to “correctively” rape other queer women. Quite frankly, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him, and she just hoped Elliot was having luck in the field. “Babs, don’t worry,” Olivia comforted, slightly softening her tone. “Nothing pisses off my partner more than somebody targeting women. He’s gonna catch this guy.”

Babs scoffed but returned a small smile. “Well, he has the hots for you, you know.”

Olivia looked at the red-head curiously. “Excuse me?”

“Stabler,” Babs replied, as though it was obvious.

Olivia chuckled, trying to stifle a boisterous laugh. If the woman only knew how off-base that she was… “No, uh, no that’s never gonna happen.” Babs looked the detective up and down, lost in some kind of thought that Olivia couldn’t decipher. Slightly uncomfortable, however, she looked away and took note of several framed photographs on Bab’s wall. Strutting over with her hands in her pockets, she remarked “So you’ve been on the front line for a long time.”

“Marched through tear gas for that rally,” Babs added, joining the brunette. “That was a three-day sit-in. That’s why this feels so weird for me. I should be out there kicking people’s asses. Not in here, hiding, feeling…”

“Scared?”

“Petrified.”

Olivia nodded, giving Babs a soft look of comfort. She was glad that the activist seemed to be opening up and wavering in her stubborn resolve. And she did sympathize with her – if someone was out there hurting those she cared about, Olivia knew no one could stop her from getting involved. “I know that it’s hard, but you’re gonna get through this.”

“You promise? ‘Cause I don’t do this everyday. Not like you do.”

“I promise, okay?” Olivia patted Bab’s shoulder kindly. “Come on, let’s get something to eat, okay?” she added with a smile. Before she could react, however, Babs had turned into her body, pressing their frames – and their lips – together in a kiss. Eyes widened in shock, Olivia pulled away as soon as her body caught up with her brain. “Whoa! Now, that’s not on the menu,” she asserted, taking a few steps back from the brazen red-head.

Babs, already emotional, let her lip waver. “Is it me?” she asked, steeling herself.

Olivia blinked, trying to process the situation. “No, no it’s me.” How can I word this so she doesn’t lose it… “I’m—I’m—Babs, I’m flattered. I’m just also married.” She held up her left hand, ring finger adorned with a simple, thin band appropriate for her hands-on job, for proof.

“Oh,” Babs chuckled, relieved. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Olivia quirked an eyebrow in confusion, and the woman continued, “Come on, I mean… the job and the gun and the attitude. You’re like Ellen, Joan Crawford, and Calamity Jane all rolled into one.” Olivia chuckled. “If you can balance a checkbook, I’ll throw in Suze Orman. Look, believe me, whoever snatched you up is a lucky woman. I’ll have to congratulate her if I ever meet her.”

Olivia chuckled. “Well, you’ve met her.” Babs looked at her perplexed. “Uh- I’m married to ADA Cabot.”

Babs’ eyes widened into blue saucers. “You mean that blonde bombshell with legs that go on for miles who would put Heidi Klum to shame?” Olivia choked. While all of those things were certainly true about Alex, the devious look on Babs’ face gave her cause for concern. “You know, Benson, I know how difficult it can be to subvert the heteropatriarchal paradigm. And monogamy is a huge part of that. Have you and Alex ever thought of… opening the party a bit,” she asked flirtatiously, reaching for Olivia’s hands. The brunette, deeply uncomfortable, pulled away yet again. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

Before Olivia could figure out a response, there was a knock at the door. “Benson, it’s Delgado!” Saved by the bell.

“That’s my shift change. Um—Babs, you hang in there okay? I’m gonna- I’m gonna check in on you tomorrow,” she explained, backing away slowly from the other woman as though she was a bear. Thankfully Babs, while disappointed, nodded. “Goodnight.” Grabbing her peacoat, she hurried to the door.

“How’s it going, Olivia?” the attractive younger police officer asked her.

“If I were you, I’d stay outside.”

As Olivia finished her story, she examined Alex, who was sitting across from her stiffly, face unreadable. “Uh- yeah so, that’s it” Olivia added to the silence, prodding the blonde to say something. When she didn’t for several moments, the detective only grew antsier.

Finally, Alex spoke. “She kissed you.” Olivia nodded cautiously. “Babs Duffy kissed you.” Before Olivia could reply, Alex shot off the couch and began pacing back and forth, assuming her predatory courtroom stance. “That woman has some nerve…”

“Al – she was in an emotional place. She didn’t realize that we were married.”

Alex glowered. “Maybe not at first. But when she did, she still propositioned you! And me for that matter! Like some Sapphic fantasy. I- she was probably imagining the whole scene in her head. You and I on our knees in front of her— “

“Alex!”

“You are the lead detective on this case, and I am the ADA. She was wholly out-of-line, Olivia,” Alex fumed.

Olivia sighed, standing and walking over to the blonde, gently placing her hands on her shoulders to still her. “It was inappropriate. But Alex, it’s just Babs. She’s harmless, albeit a bit bold. I was very clear in turning her down. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

The blonde attorney stiffened under Olivia’s palms and looked as though she was about rant before she instead exhaled heavily. “I know, I just don’t like it,” she grumbled.

Olivia held back a chuckle at her wife’s almost childish perturb. “I don’t like it either, baby.”

“I don’t like the idea of anyone but me kissing you,” she pouted with full pink lips.

“I don’t like anyone but you kissing me,” Olivia replied, slipping her hands to her wife’s waist.

Alex quirked an eyebrow. “Have there been others?” 

Olivia chuckled. “Other highly-motivated, stubborn women kissing me? No. Unless you want to count yourself, counselor,” she added with a smirk.

“Hey,” Alex glowered playfully, pouting once again. “I better be the only hard-ass kissing you from here on out.”

“I am more than okay with that arrangement, counselor,” Olivia smiled, finally leaning in and languidly kissing the blonde. After a few moments, Alex grimaced, pulling away.

“I feel like I’m kissing Babs Duffy by kissing you now,” she teased.

Olivia let out a loud laugh. “Don’t worry, Al. Listerine and chewing gum.” Smiling, she pulled the more-than-willing blonde closer and into a deeper kiss. Things were heating up between the two women when Olivia’s phone vibrated on her hip. Sighing, she pulled away and answered, Alex’s fingers still ghosting across her stomach. “Benson.” Alex watched as Olivia’s eyebrows raised. Sighing she resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to wait until she had her wife all to herself. “Got it. I’ll be right there.” Hanging up, the detective gave Alex an apologetic look. “Sorry babe…”

“Duty calls,” Alex said with a small smile, pecking Olivia’s lips once more.

“They got the guy. Tried to climb up Bab’s fire escape with a tire iron.”

“At least she seems to have a thick head…” Alex quipped.

“Alex –“ Olivia warned, although clearly amused.

“Well, Calamity Jane, you go rescue the damsel in distress. I think I’ll go take a bath, have some wine, wait for you to get home?” she pondered seductively.

Olivia felt a tug in her lower body. “I’ll be quick.” 

Turning on her heels, she was just about at the door when she heard Alex’s voice once more. “Hey Liv?” The brunette looked at her expectantly. “Did Babs really say I put Heidi Klum to shame,” she asked mischievously.

Olivia chuckled, rolling her eyes, before slipping out the door, quite eager to return home and show her wife how much she appreciated everything above, below, and between those miles and miles of long, lithe legs. 

A/N: Keep sending requests my way! I especially like doing episode fics so let me know some episodes!


	5. Our Protector

Disclaimer: I do not own SVU. Some dialogue taken from "Betrayal's Climax"

Setting: October 2015 (Season 17)  
Kids ages: Mia (6), Sadie (3), Noah (1)

"Our Protector"

“Where Mommy?”

“Shh,” Alex hushed Sadie gently, “Mommy is with the other officers. You’ll see her soon, but we have to be quiet and polite.” She smiled when the three-year-old’s blue eyes widened before the little girl pressed her lips together noticeably, signaling she was following instructions. Alex then looked over at her older daughter, who was seated to her left. She was dressed in a navy blue dress – one she had been excited to pick out with her Mama just for this occasion. Her ankles were crossed, swinging back and forth in front of her, but she was paying rapt attention to the ceremony. Finally, Alex checked on their youngest child, little Noah, who was still fast asleep cuddled on her lap, dressed in a tiny argyle sweater and khakis, thumb in his mouth.

Alex beamed with pride for their little family. And currently, she couldn’t have been any more proud of her wife as she watched the NYPD Lieutenants Ceremony.

“…as a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department” the police chief was reciting in his thick regional accent.

The newly promoted officers repeated the end of the pledge, white-gloved hands raised “…as a sergeant in the New York City Police Department.”

“To the best of my abilities, so help me, God.”

“To the best of my abilities, so help me, God.”

“Congratulations,” the chief relayed before the crowd erupted in applause. Sadie looked up at Alex excitedly, tugging on the sleeve of her sweater dress.

“Mommy won?”

Alex chuckled at her daughter’s interpretation of Olivia’s promotion. “Mommy is official a lieutenant now because she does such a good job at work protecting everyone,” the blonde woman explained.

Sadie grinned. “Mommy keeps us safe,” the little girl lisped.

Alex smiled broadly, placing a kiss on the crown of the little brunette’s head. “That’s right, sweetheart.”

As the clapping began to settle, the newly-minted lieutenants sat down to prepare to receive their certificates. As she did so, Olivia peeked over her shoulder to catch Alex’s eye across the audience, her eyes gleaming and glistening. Joyful tears threatening to spill, Alex mouthed back the words “I love you” before her wife had to turn her attention back to the stage.

“When does Mommy get her certificate,” Mia whispered to her Mama.

“Right now, baby,” Alex replied, bouncing the now awake Noah softly on her lap.

As the chief began to call out names, the rest of the Cabot-Bensons waited eagerly. Finally, it was their favorite officer’s turn. “Lieutenant Olivia Benson,” the chief called out. Alex watched as Olivia ascended the stage, looking stunning in her uniform. Her wife proudly saluted the chief before receiving the framed certificate and shaking his hand, turning for the obligatory photograph.

“Yay Mommy!” Sadie cheered out loudly, earning a chuckle from her mothers and the audience alike. The rest of the ceremony dragged slightly, the excitement of awaiting Olivia’s moment having passed. The kids were becoming squirmy, and Alex was relieved when the police chief gave his last congratulations and bid everyone a good day. Cameras still flashing, the audience began to separate into their respective groupings, waiting to congratulate the officers, the room echoing with everyone’s chatter. Alex looked over to where the other 1-6 detectives had been sitting, guiding Mia and Sadie over towards Fin.

The male detective greeted them with a smile. “Hi ladies. Hey, Little Man,” he said, playfully shaking Noah’s foot.

“Where are Rollins and Carisi?” Alex asked. “Did they have less patience than these guys for the ceremony,” she added with a sly grin.

Fin chuckled. “Nah, got called out on a case. But they send their congrats.”

“Mommy, can we say hi to Isabella?” Mia interjected, pointing to where her friend – the daughter of another new NYPD lieutenant – was standing nearby with her family.

“Yes, you may,” Alex replied, “But Mia remember what your Mommy and I have said about interrupting.”

“Sorry, Mama, I forgot.”

Alex gave her a soft smile, knowing that the six-year-old was worn out after sitting quietly for such a long time. “It’s okay. Just make sure to hold Sadie’s hand.” She watched as the little girls headed over to their friends, making sure to make eye contact with Isabella’s mother to assure they got across the room. Of course, a room with this much police presence was probably the most secure in all of Manhattan, but with what she and Olivia saw on a daily basis, it never hurt to be too careful. With Mia and Sadie safely with their friend, Alex turned back towards Nick, who was smiling at her.

“You and Liv did a good job. They’re great kids.”

Alex smiled softly. “How is Ken?”

“He’s alright. He and Alejandro are thinkin’ about starting their own family…”

Alex quirked an eyebrow. “Really? So Grandpa Fin, huh?”

“Bite your tongue, counselor,” Fin teased with a smirk. “Kids or not, ain’t no one callin’ me, grandpa until I’m old and wrinkly.”

“Might want to check out some botox then,” a husky voice quipped. Alex and Fin turned to see Olivia approaching them.

Fin rolled his eyes. “Guess I can’t clap back anymore now that you’re the Lieutenant,” Fin jibbed, before pulling the woman into a congratulatory hug, “Congrats, Liv.”

Olivia smiled, “Thanks Fin.” She turned towards Alex and grinned widely. “Hi baby boy,” she said, kissing Noah on the head. She looked up at Alex and gave her a peck. “Kids are okay?”

“Yup, our little man here slept almost the whole time until the clapping woke him up so he could see his Mommy. And the girls, well, you heard Sadie,” she said with a smirk.

“She has a presence that will not be denied,” Olivia laughed.

“I’m gonna dip out,” Fin said, placing a hand on both women’s shoulders. “Rollins and Carisi send their congrats, Liv. They got called out on a case…”

Olivia furrowed her brow, entering business mode. “What happened…”

Fin held up a hand. “From the looks of it, an assault that was stopped before it could be started. We got it. You enjoy the rest of your day, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks, Fin,” she replied to his retreating form. She turned back to Alex, giving her wife a curious look as she watched the blonde eye her up and down. “What?”

Alex smirked. “I just love you in your uniform.” She took a step closer and husked into Olivia’s ear. “And out of it.”

Olivia raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Is that so?”

Alex nodded, biting her lip. “Maybe the uniform can come back out later tonight,” she mused. “And your handcuffs.”

“I did pledge to serve,” Olivia smiled, placing her hands on Alex’s hips and giving her wife another kiss.

Alex ran her fingers over the breast of Olivia’s coat, gently caressing the various medals that adorned it. American Flag Breast Bar. World Trade Center Breast Bar. NYPD Combat Cross. NYPD Medal for Valor. Two NYPD Meritorious Police Duty awards… The brunette watched as her wife looked at these markers with love and pride, sentiments that became only more pronounced when she looked up and into Olivia’s chocolate brown eyes.

“I am so incredibly proud of you.”

Olivia grabbed the hand that was still resting against her chest. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.

“Nonsense,” the blonde replied, making the older woman smile shyly.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Lieutenant.” 

As she leaned over to kiss the brunette, they were interrupted by two high pitched cries of excitement. “Mama!!”

Olivia chuckled, pulling away from her wife and looking down at their daughters, who had rejoined them. “Hey, baby girls!” she greeted, pulling them into a hug.

“I’m notta baby,” Sadie pouted. “Noah is de baby.”

“My apologies, Miss Sadie,” Olivia joked. “How are my big girls?”

“We watched the whole ceremony, Mommy!” Mia said excitedly. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Mia” Olivia said with a grin, kissing the little blonde’s head.

“What do you say that we go out and get some celebratory dinner?” Alex suggested, earning nods from the three hungry ladies in front of her. She looked at Olivia. “Where does the new lieutenant want to go?”

Before the woman could reply, however, the younger brunette piped up. “Pizza!”

“Sadie, it’s your Mommy’s big day. Let’s let her decide.”

Olivia shrugged with a chuckle. “I mean, what is more New York than pizza.” And with a smile, the lieutenant scooped the three-year old into her arms and grabbed Mia’s hand, proudly guiding her family out into the streets of Manhattan.  
A/N: Please review and send suggestions for other oneshots :)


	6. Handcuffs and Briefs

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU

A/N: Two updates in one day – woo! As per request, a continuation of the last chapter about Olivia's promises for "later that night" ;)

Rating: M (CW: super light kink – cop/arrestee role play). Feeling super super shy about this one because it's like pure smut *blushes and hides*

"Handcuffs and Briefs"

Stripped down to her bra and tights, Alex was bending over to pull a pajama shirt out of the drawer when she felt a hand on her left hip and another gently twisting her right arm behind her back. She smiled when she heard a familiar voice husk, "Ms. Cabot-Benson, I have a warrant for your arrest." Alex shivered when she felt the metal of handcuffs clamp over her wrist. "Anything you say can and will be held against you" her brunette wife added with a smirk, pressing against her.

When Alex began to turn, Olivia halted her. "Hands up against the wall," she commanded, guiding the younger woman around the dresser. "Are you carrying any weapons, Ms. Cabot? She moved to the blonde's side now, allowing Alex to see navy uniform in her periphery.

Alex shook her head, going along with the role play. "No, officer."

"That's Lieutenant to you," Olivia corrected with a playful eye. "I don't know, Ms. Cabot. You lawyers are good with your tongue. I'll going to have to make sure you aren't lying to me. Spread your legs." Alex complied, and Olivia began to frisk her, running her hands gently along Alex's curves. "My, my counselor. I would love to take a look over your briefs…"

Alex guffawed, turning around to face the brunette. "My briefs? Liv, did you look up legal pick up lines on the Internet or something?"

Olivia smirked and shrugged. "Maybe."

Alex shook her head in amusement. "You're ridiculous." She took a moment from her new vantage point, however, to take a look at the lieutenant's ensemble. The tailored pleats that only slightly flattened her wife's curves. The air of authority it gave her. "Damn, I know I said this earlier, but this really looks great on you," the blonde complimented, running her finger along the lapel.

"Well, how about I keep this on and we put those handcuffs to use," Olivia asked seductively. "We can do some under-cover work."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yes to the cuffs, but no more pick up lines if you actually want me to get turned on," she quipped.

Olivia quirked an eyebrow, placing her hands on Alex's hips and guiding the younger woman back towards the bed. "I'm pretty sure I could make you turned on no matter what, counselor," she breathed, moving in to place some open mouthed kissed on Alex's neck.

"Confident now, are we?" Alex teased. "How about you provide me with some evidence of that, lieutenant."

Olivia grinned before returning to her dominant play. "Get on the bed." Alex complied, shuffling until she up against the headboard. Olivia leaned over her, pressing her curves against the blonde's frame as she wrapped the chain of the handcuffs around one of the headboard's beams before securing the other side over Alex's free wrist, effectively immobilizing her arms. "That feel okay," she checked, examining the blonde's wrists to make sure no circulation was being cut off.

Alex nodded with a smile. "It'll feel more okay if you keep touching me."

"Oh I will, but first…" she rolled off of the blonde and out of bed, "I figured I'd tease you a little longer. Shrugging off her blazer, she explained, "I know that you like me in uniform, but I'm pretty sure you prefer me out of it."

Alex gulped, blue eyes darkening. While she and Olivia of course both were comfortable exploring with each other sexually, when it can to exhibitionism, Olivia was always a bit more reserved, especially as she got older and more insecure about her body. The fact that she was now about to strip tease for the blonde had Alex's panties in an uncomfortable puddle under her tights.

Maintaining eye contact with the blonde, Olivia allowed the coat to fall to the ground, moving her fingers to unbutton her white button-down, slowly ever so slowly revealing more and more of the olive skin underneath. She smirked as she watched Alex begin to squirm, turning away as she pulled off the shirt so that Alex could see the ripples of her still muscular back.

"Baby," she heard Alex pant, "Turn. Please."

Following command, Olivia turned around, leaning over slightly so that her cleavage began to pool out of her white, lace bra. She then unfastened her pants, slipping them down to reveal her tight ass covered in lace briefs. Strutting over towards the bed and the attentive attorney who occupied it, Olivia snickered as she crawled up onto the mattress. "Might want to close your mouth, Lex. You're starting to drool," she teased.

"Shut up." She retained, however, no resolve. "Liv, your bra."

"Take it off? Okay, baby," Olivia said, giving her wife a flirtatious look as she unfastened the front hook, her ample breasts now spilling out in front of her. Dropping the garment to the side, she leaned over so that her chest as in line with Alex's face, gasping slightly as she felt her wife's tongue twirl around one of the hardened nipples. "Nuh uh," Olivia chided, pulling her body away. She pressed a languid kiss to the blonde's mouth. "Not yet."

"I want to touch you," Alex whined.

"You will, baby," the lieutenant assured. "In a little while." First, however, she pressed her panty-covered core against Alex's. "God baby, I can feel how wet you are even through all the fabric."

"That's because you're killing me."

Olivia chuckled, reaching down and grabbing the waists of both Alex's tights and thong, yanking them down over her long, pale legs to reveal as small patch of glistening dark blonde hair. "Jesus," she breathed. She kissed from Alex's knee down to her inner thigh, basking in the warmth radiating off of her wife's skin. Moving upwards, she met her wife's eyes. "It never stops amazing me how beautiful you are, Al."

Alex's eyes were now desperate with need, jaw slack as she looked down at her wife. "Liv, please," she husked.

"Please what, Alexandra?"

"Fuck me."

Olivia smiled, kissing her wife's belly button before dragging her tongue downwards until she reached her blonde curls. She placed a firm kiss against Alex's pubic bone just above her clit, earning a gasp. "You have the right to remain silent… although I doubt you will be." Before Alex could respond to her pun, she pressed her tongue through the blonde's folds, causing her to cry out, overwhelmed by the sensation after all of the lieutenant's teasing. Olivia continued to please her wife with her mouth, eventually wrapping the woman's legs over her shoulders to grant her tongue better access as she dipped the appendage in and out.

"Oh my god," Alex moaned. "Liv – fuck. Your fingers. Please."

Olivia lifted her head, slipping two fingers into her wife's core. Noting just how turned on Alex was, she quickly added a third.

"Fuck, baby. Want you – to fill me," Alex requested with a groan.

Olivia quirked an eyebrow. In all of their years together, she had never penetrated the blonde with any more that three fingers using her hand. "You want more?" she asked cautiously, careful to understand exactly what her wife was asking for.

"Please."

In spite of the fact that Alex was practically soaking, Olivia pulled out for a moment to reach into their bedside table, removing a bottle of lube. Before returning to her spot between Alex's legs, she gave her wife a comforting kiss. "If it hurts or if you want to stop, just tell me?" Alex nodded, eyes hazy with pleasure, and gave her wife a reassuring smile that she trusted her to do this.

Settling back, Olivia coated her right hand generously with lubricant, slipping two fingers back into Alex as she rolled her thumb over the blonde's clit. "Yessssss," Alex moaned. As the blonde continued to become more and more aroused, Olivia added the third finger again. And then subsequently, a fourth. Finally, she curled her hand slightly so that it bent vertically along the palm.

"You ready, sweetheart?" she asked lovingly, prepared to fill her wife entirely.

"Oh god, yes."

Slowly, Olivia slid her hand into the blonde, feeling a fresh flood of wetness in her own panties from the sensation. Inside Alex was warm and velvety, the smooth muscles clamping slightly around Olivia's fist as she began to massage the blonde's G-spot.

"Yes, baby, yes!"

Olivia thanked the universe silently that the kids were heavy sleepers. Curling her fingers inside the blonde, she felt Alex getting closer and closer to her release. Becoming uncomfortably aroused herself at the sight, she slipped her left hand under her underwear and rubbed against her hard clit.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Liv. I'm going to cum. Liv –" Alex sputtered as she finally reached her peak, muscles clamping tightly around the brunette's wrists, warm fluid squirting out on to Olivia's bare thighs and pushing the lieutenant over the edge as well. Both women gasped as they rode out their climaxes, panting for air as they finally relaxed.

When Olivia's mind finally clear, she looked down at Alex, who appeared overwhelmed but content. "Lex, I'm gonna pull out, baby," she said, waiting until Alex gave her an exhausted nod. Slowly and carefully, she removed her hand from the blonde, who hissed at the sudden emptiness. Cautiously, she crawled up next to her wife's body, lying on her side next to her. Placing a gentle kiss on Alex's sweaty forehead, she asked, "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Alex smiled and gave a soft nod. "I am more than okay. That was. Wow."

"It was definitely wow," the lieutenant agreed. She grabbed her handcuff key and freed the blonde, who tried to shrug out some of the stiffness. The women were quiet for a few moments.

"Are you… okay with all of that," Alex asked shyly.

Olivia grinned, kissing the blonde's flushed nose. "I am really, really okay with all of that."

"Good," Alex smiled, moving closer. "Because I'd like a repeat performance from time to time." She grabbed Olivia's right hand, still covered with wetness, and brought it to her mouth, licking a couple of the fingers clean. Olivia groaned, feeling herself become aroused again in spite of her fatigue.

"I think I need a cold shower."

Alex laughed. "No second round, Lieutenant?"

"We're getting old, counselor."

"Speak for yourself," Alex kidded. "But okay, let's go clean up. Although I can't promised that I'll keep my hands entirely to myself."

Olivia smirked. "I am more than okay with that."

A/N: Hope I didn't burn y'all's eyes out!


	7. In Sickness and In Health

A/N: Some pending requests:  
-Jealous Liv  
-A story with one or both women being married, having an affair, and ending up together (I might have to do an AU chapter for this one, because I’m not sure if it would fit in with Always You, but will definitely try!)  
-More on Alex’s pregnancy with Sadie

Definitely like having a prompt, so keep them coming!

Also, to answer some of your questions, Sadie’s donor is the same as Mia’s (and Max’s). Let’s assume that after Mia, Alex and Olivia decided to keep some of the semen sample stored for potential future pregnancies (which is fairly common practice to my understanding). As you’ll remember, this donor physically resembled Olivia, which is how Mia got her brown eyes and Sadie got her brown hair. As with canon, Noah is still adopted.

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU.

Setting: September 2011, Mia is 2, Alex is 5 months pregnant with Sadie

“In Sickness and In Health”

Olivia sighed as Nick dropped another stack of incomplete DD5s onto her desk. “Looks like we’re gonna be here for a while,” he lamented. The 1-6 had been absurdly crazy over the past couple of weeks, especially in the wake of the new college school year. Olivia was thankful that Rollins and her new partner, Amaro, seemed to be finding their footing, needing less and less guidance.

Still, more cases not only meant more fieldwork but also more paperwork. They were seriously backlogged. Olivia resigned herself to the fact that Nick was probably right – they had a long night ahead of them. The brunette was halfway through a case file when her cell phone rang, Alex’s name and a picture of her flashing across the iPhone screen. The blonde attorney had left work early that day, having felt entirely exhausted. Normally a workaholic to the extreme, Alex had mellowed during this pregnancy. They hadn’t discussed it, but Olivia knew that after losing Max, her wife was more concerned this time with having a healthy pregnancy than she was with her duties as an ADA. The detective had asked if she wanted her to spend the rest of the day with her, but Alex had assured that she was likely just drained from a busy week and would see Olivia later tonight. Thus, Olivia anticipated that Alex was calling to see if she would be home for dinner, and the brunette frowned knowing that she would have to tell the blonde that it would be a late night.

Grabbing her phone, she swiped to accept the call. “Hey, Lex.”

“Hi Liv,” Alex greeted weakly. Olivia’s face fell. Something about her wife’s voice didn’t sound right. “Baby, could you come home please?”

Olivia’s eyes widened, and she felt a jolt of adrenaline run through her. “Alex, is everything okay?”

The brunette heard the woman stifle a small sob. “Um – I really don’t feel well. I have a headache. I’ve been – I’ve been throwing up –“

The detective squeezed her eyes shut as Alex relayed her symptoms – many of them the same as when she had eclampsia. “I’m on my way right now, baby,” the brunette assured, grabbing her keys. She looked at Nick who, before she could ask, shooed her away.

“I’ll tell the Captain,” her partner replied. “Go to Alex.”

“Thank you,” Olivia mouthed before heading out of the precinct. “Sweetheart, are you in any pain? In your belly?”

“No,” Alex said, starting to cry. “Liv, what if…”

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I’m getting in my car and will be home with you. Do you want to call 911?”

“No, not yet. I have Mia from daycare. Just please come home.”

Olivia sped out of One Police Plaza to the couple’s home in record time. Alex hadn’t called her during the trip, which she hoped was a good sign. Still, she sprinted up the stairs to their front door. Alex and Mia were in the living room, the toddler playing with some wooden blocks on the ground. The older blonde was curled up on the couch under a throw blanket. Hearing the door, Mia looked up from her toys. “Mama sick,” she told Olivia.

“I know, baby,” Olivia replied softly, ruffling the little girl’s wispy blonde hair before hurrying over to the couch. “Don’t worry. Mama is going to be okay,” she reassured, her message just as much for Alex as Mia. “Hi sweetheart,” Olivia said, kneeling next to Alex. “How are you feeling?”

“My head still hurts,” Alex said weakly. “I’m nauseous but I haven’t thrown up again.”

“Okay, that’s good baby.” She leaned over and pressed her lips to Alex’s forehead, frowning as she felt its clamminess. “You feel like you have a bit of a fever, sweetheart.” Noting the fear in Alex’s eyes, she turned her attention to the toddler. “Hey Mia, can you go get Mama one of your stuffed animals to help her feel better?”

“Yeah Mommy!” Mia said happily. The gravity of the situation went over the toddler’s head, and she was just glad that she could help her ailing mother. Olivia waited for the little girl to toddle down the hallway to one of her toy baskets before discussing what they should do next with Alex.

“I’m going to call Cragen. See if he can come watch her. And then I think we should take you to the hospital, sweetheart.” Alex nodded solemnly before starting to cry. “I know, baby,” Olivia said, pulling her wife into her arms. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It could be something else…”

“Mama don’t be sad,” a little voice interrupted. “You be better.” Mia walked over to the couple and handed Alex a small knit turtle.

Alex took a deep breath, forcing a small smile at her daughter. “Thank you, sweet girl,” she said, hugging the little toy against her.

“Yo welcowme, Mama.”

“Mia, we’re gonna have Grandpa Cragen come over and play with you while Mommy takes Mama to the doctor, okay?”

“Grwanpa Cwagen!” the toddler nodded excitedly. “Doctowr make you bettewr Mama.”

Alex nodded, giving the little girl a kiss. Olivia could sense from her silence just how afraid the normally verbose attorney was. Luckily, Cragen made it to the townhouse quickly when Olivia called him and explained the situation. Olivia then took Alex to the nearest hospital, having called their OB/GYN on the way. They had to pull over once for Alex to dry-heave into a plastic bag, and the detective sped along quickly afterwards, her wife gripping their daughter’s stuffed toy for comfort. By the time they were wheeling Alex into the emergency room, Dr. Gil was ready to meet them there.

“Hi ladies,” she greeted sympathetically. “I know both of you are very afraid right now, but let’s take a look at you, Alex. This could be something else entirely.” Once the three settled into an exam room, Dr. Gil took all of Alex’s vitals herself as she and the brunette waited tensely, Olivia only letting go of Alex’s hand when absolutely necessary. When Dr. Gil removed the blood pressure cuff, she smiled at the couple. “90/60. Your blood pressure is actually a little bit low, which makes sense if you’re a bit dehydrated. But it’s perfectly normal. We’ll run some bloodwork and a urine sample, but it looks like you just have a bit of a stomach bug.”

Alex let out a small sob of relief, looking up at Olivia who also had tears running down her cheeks. After taking the samples, Dr. Gil gave the couple one last reassuring smile before leaving the room – she had grown quite fond of the pair over the past couple of years. When the doctor left, Olivia squatted down so that she was face-level with her recumbent wife. Placing her hands on both sides of the blonde’s face, she leaned over and gave her an emotion-filled kiss. “It’s going to be okay, Al. I can feel it.” Looking down, she placed her hand on Alex’s small bump. “It’s going to be okay, little one.”

About ten minutes later, Dr. Gil returned with Alex’s clean bill of health. “Test results are all normal except for your WBC being up, which is a normal sign that your body is fighting off a virus or other infection. I want to take a look at your baby, just to be sure they are okay, but you should be on your way home right after that.” Both Alex and Olivia’s eyes were glistening when small image of their child came up on the screen. This wasn’t their first ultrasound during this pregnancy – but it certainly was the most meaningful. “Strong heart beat. No pain from palpitation. No visual abnormalities,” Dr. Gil checked off. “You have stomach bug, Alex. Uncomfortable but perfectly harmless to both of you.” Olivia exhaled heavily, finally relaxing with the knowledge that Alex and the baby were both going to be okay. That is was still a new beginning for them.

“I’m going to give you some rehydration pills because you’re having trouble keeping fluids down. To air on the side of caution, don’t take any ibuprofen or over-the-counter meds for the headache. Some peppermint tea is good for the pain and the nausea if you can stomach it. Your fever is about 99.8. If it gets above 101 or lasts more than 36 hours, call me immediately, but I think that you’ll be feeling better within the next day or so. Blame the daycare. Those places are full of germs,” the woman smiled.

Thanking the doctor, the couple returned home to find Cragen and Mia fast asleep on the couch, the older man’s arm wrapped around the little girl as the sound of Tangled played in the background. Olivia settled Alex into bed before returning downstairs. She gently stirred Cragen to inform him that Alex was okay, much to the older man’s relief. The captain scooped Mia up and brought the sleeping girl to her bed, Olivia in tow.

“You’re welcome to stay, Captain,” Olivia offered as they returned to the living room. “We don’t have a guest room anymore, obviously, but the couch is comfortable.”

Cragen shook his head and placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “It’s not too late out. You take off tomorrow to care for Alex. The new blood can hold down the fort. Give her my love.”

Olivia nodded, giving the man a hug before he left. Heading into the kitchen, she grabbed some Pediasure from the refrigerator as well as the rehydration pills, some saltines, and a large bowl. Returning upstairs to the master bedroom, she found Alex curled on her side, groaning. “Hi sweetheart,” Olivia said softly, lowering the door behind her. She walked across the room and took a seat at the edge on the bed next to the blonde. Gently caressing the side of Alex’s face, she noted that the attorney didn’t feel any warmer than she had at the hospital. “Cragen left. He sends his love.” The attorney gave a small nod. “You feeling nauseous, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” Alex choked out. “Liv, I – Sick“ 

As her wife shot up, blue eyes wide, Olivia grabbed the bowl that she had brought, holding it as Alex emptied the small bit of remaining contents to her stomach. “That’s it, baby. It’ll be over soon,” the brunette comforted, pulling the woman’s long blonde hair into a ponytail. She then rubbed some soothing circles on her back. “You done? Okay, baby.”

“Ugh,” Alex groaned. “Can you help me to the bathroom? I want to brush my teeth.”

“Of course, babe.”

After helping Alex get cleaned up, the couple returned to the bedroom. Olivia helped Alex under the covers, pressing a kiss to her belly before she tucked her in. “You both are going to be okay,” she said softly. Alex smiled softly, grabbing one’s of her wife’s olive-skinned hands and giving it a squeeze. No other words were needed.

Olivia returned the smile and leaned over, placing a kiss on Alex’s forehead. “I’m going to leave something to drink for you here while I go clean that up,” she said, gesturing towards the dirty bowl. “If you need me, just yell.”

Alex nodded, settling back against the pillows. “Thank you. I think I’m going to try to sleep.”

“That sounds good, baby.” The detective stood and grabbed the bowl, heading for the door. Just as she was about to exit, she heard Alex’s voice.

“I love you, Olivia.”

The brunette smiled. “I love you too. The both of you.”


	8. Turkey, Tantrums, and Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU

Timeline: November 2016; Olivia (48), Alex (42), Mia (7), Sadie (4), Noah (2)

A/N: A delayed Thanksgiving story. Right now, finals are in full swing and I’m a grad student, but after they’re over I’ll have much more time to write!

Turkey, Tantrums, and Tears

Slosh!

Grimacing at the sound, Alex turned around already anticipating the site in front of her: Noah, giggling in his high chair slapping his chubby palms into a spilled bowl of applesauce. “Oh no, little man!” the blonde sighed, hurrying over to scoop away from making a further mess. As she tried to settle the squirming toddler, the oven timer went off. “Liv? Can you check the turkey for me?”

“I can help, Mama!” Sadie called out, tight-covered feet padding into the kitchen towards the oven.

“No, no, no Sadie,” Alex said, stopping the girl with her free hand. “Remember, the oven is hot. Can you use that towel to wipe up some of the applesauce off the floor?” Sadie nodded, light brown curls bouncing. 

Meanwhile, Olivia entered the kitchen drying her damp hair with a towel, fresh from the shower. Noting their son’s appearance, the lieutenant chuckled. “Noah, what did you do, buddy?” she asked playfully, kissing his thick head of hair. “You get him cleaned up, Babe. That one too,” she grinned, nodding towards Sadie, who was now also covered in applesauce from attempting to clean up the mess. “I’ll take care of the cooking.”

“Thanks, Liv,” the attorney smiled, giving her wife a peck. “Remember the years of holidays before kids? So calm. So easy…”

“But so much less entertaining.”

“Absolutely.”

“Mommy, can I help finish the cookies?” the couple’s oldest daughter interrupted, already dressed in her autumny-colored plaid jumper.

“Yes, sure Mia. Just make sure you wash your hands first,” Olivia replied as she checked on the turkey while Alex led the rest of the brood to the bathroom.

“I did!” the little blonde said cheerfully, hopping on to the stool next to the kitchen island. “So I just roll them into balls?”

Olivia smiled. “Yep, just roll them until they’re about the size of golf balls like this,” the brunette explained, demonstrating with a chunk of chocolate chip cookie dough. “Do you need help, ladybug, or can I get started on the potatoes?”

“I can do it, Mommy,” Mia replied, already fiercely focused on the task at hand. Olivia turned her own attention back to the feast-in-progress in front of her. The family was expecting a host of folks within the next couple of hours: Rollins and her daughter, Jessie, Fin – whose son was with his fiancé’s family for the holiday – Cragen, and Munch. That said, Alex had gone above and beyond with cooking. A turkey with cranberry stuffing and a green bean casserole were in the oven. A large salad with walnuts and other garnishes were in the fridge. Cranberry sauce simmered on the stove-top. A basket of crescent rolls sat on the island alongside some baked mac n’ cheese. Now all that was left to make were mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes as well as cookies and a pumpkin pie. As far as the lieutenant was concerned, they would be eating leftovers for weeks.

After mashing and setting the potatoes on the oven, Olivia turned around to check on Mia, who had been oddly quiet as she prepared the cookies for baking. The brunette frowned in confusion when she noticed that the girl had only made four dough balls in the past fifteen minutes. “Everything okay, Mia?” she asked.

The blonde’s blue eyes widened, startled. “Uh yeah, Mommy. I can do it.”

“Okay baby,” the lieutenant responded warily, pretending to turn her attention back to the stove. Instead, she watched her daughter. Mia’s brow was furrowed as she toyed with the dough in front of her, holding two of the lumps next to each other in comparison. The brunette noted the frustration that seemed to be building in her daughter as she rolled and re-rolled the dough, trying to make matching spheres. When a tear rolled down one of the girl’s cheeks, Olivia knew that she had to intervene.

“Mia, what’s wrong ladybug?” the older woman asked, rubbing the child’s back.

Mia’s lower lip wavered. “I just – I can’t get them to be right,” the little blonde managed, trying to hold back a sob.

“What do you mean, baby? They look just fine.”

“No!” Mia responded, shaking her head roughly, “They’re not. They have to match, and I can’t get them to be the same.”

“Mia,” Olivia said softly, lifting her daughter’s chin to face her. “The cookies don’t have to be the same. They’ll still be yummy no matter hwat they look like.”

Tears filled the little girl’s wide blue eyes, and she began to cry, burying her face into her mother’s shoulder. “I just want them to be perfect.” Olivia frowned as she rubbed her hand in circles on her daughter’s back to comfort her. As Mia had gotten older, she had become a bit of a perfectionist. Her room was always neat and tidy, and her appearance just right. At school, her teachers always noted how carefully her assignments were completed. Even when playing outside, Mia practiced things like jumping rope until they met her high standards. At first, Olivia had figured it was harmless. After all, Alex herself was known to be a bit of a perfectionist herself. That said, more and more, Mia seemed to be fixated on getting different tasks just right. Now, the fact that something like making cookies had the little girl in tears worried her immensely.

“Amelia, the cookies will be the best cookies just because you helped make them. Nothing is perfect, baby, and that’s okay.”

“I guess,” Mia frowned, her eyes betraying her anxiety. “Mommy, can you finish the cookies?”

“Are you sure, sweetheart?”

Mia nodded sadly. “I don’t want to make them anymore.”

“Okay, baby. How about you go relax for a little bit before everyone gets here,” she suggested, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. As she watched her oldest daughter wander upstairs, the lieutenant exhaled heavily. She knew that something wasn’t right and made note to discuss what had happened with Alex later after everyone had left. Right now, she turned her attention to the messy dough in front of her, hoping that the fun of the afternoon would brighten her daughter’s spirits.

~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~Page Break ~*

“Mommy! Look Unca Munch is like a turkey,” Sadie called out to her brunette mother, jiggling the loose skin of Munch’s neck as she sat on his lap. Noting the older man’s own amusement, Olivia snorted.

“Better a turkey than a sheep!” Munch, clearly on his third glass of wine, replied. “Sadie, have I told you about Area 51 yet…”

Olivia rolled her eyes as her former colleague began to explain yet another conspiracy theory to the little girl, remembering how a few months back Sadie had relayed stories of UFOs to her and Alex after a night being babysat by her beloved Uncle Munch. Stepping into the living room, she smiled at the site of her family and friends in front of her. Jessie and Noah were playing with blocks on the floor along with Mia and Fin, who were trying to help them build a castle. The lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief when, rather than getting upset, the little blonde laughed when her younger brother knocked down the tower in front of him. Meanwhile, Amanda, Cragen, and Alex sat on the sofas, chatting. Slipping into the space next to Alex, she smiled as she felt the blonde lean into her.

The attorney placed a hand on her wife’s thigh, the other holding a glass of red wine. “Amanda has been telling us about how Jessie is getting a head start on the terrible twos,” she said, filling Olivia in on their conversation.

The brunette chuckled. “Oh no. We’ve been lucky Noah hasn’t been so bad. Sadie was enough of a handful.”

“Everything she says is just, ‘no’!” the blonde detective explained. “No to veggies, no to bedtime, no to bath…”

“Any tantruming yet?”

“No, thankfully, but I’m feeling like it’s just a matter of time.”

“Sadie would completely lose it. Didn’t matter where. Once, we were at the bodega grabbing a couple things for dinner… it was a crazy week. During the Scott Russo case. Sadie wanted to go to park, but I explained to her that we were running late to pick up Mia from kindergarten. It was like 0 to 100 and she was on the floor thrashing, knocked boxes off of shelves. I was so embarrassed – I dragged her out of there without getting anything.”

Amanda laughed. “Well, something to look forward too. I mean I knew kids liked to get their way but…”

Cragen interrupted. “You three? Winding up having stubborn children. I can’t imagine why…” he deadpanned before taking a sip of his coffee. God help him, the former captain had certainly dealt with his own series of “tantrums” – ahem, “work disagreements.”

~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~~*~Page Break ~*~Page Break ~*

“They all settled into bed?” Olivia asked as she slipped on a pair of sweatpants.

“Out like lights,” Alex replied with a smile. “Can’t say I blame them. I’m exhausted.”

The brunette snickered. “I wonder if that has something to do with all of that wine you enjoyed,” she teased.

“Har har,” Alex said, rolling her eyes but clearly amused. Pulling off her sweater dress and tights and tossing them into the hamper, she then jumped back unceremoniously onto the bed. “You’re just lucky I’m too tired to come up with a witty retort, Lieutenant. Grab me a t shirt?”

Olivia laughed, shaking her head. Pulling an oversized NYPD t-shirt out of the drawer, she walked over to the blonde. “You won’t be too cold in just this?” she asked, holding out the shirt to the blonde, who was unsnapping her bra.

“Nah, that’s why I have you. My resident space heater,” Alex smirked, handing the lacy black undergarment to her wife to put away.

“Oh how could I forget,” Olivia said, depositing the bra back into its respective drawer. “Especially when I wake up with you on top of me, absorbing all my body heat.”

Alex quirked a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “I thought you liked waking up with me on top of you,” she purred.

“Didn’t say otherwise, counselor,” the brunette replied with a laugh as she crawled up onto the bed next to her wife. She pressed a kiss against Alex’s lips before slipping under the covers next to her. The attorney curled up against her, resting her head on the cushioning of Olivia’s ample chest. The two relaxed for several minutes, quite content. Alex felt herself starting to drift off when she heard her wife’s voice. “Lex?”

“Yes?”

Alex furrowed her brow when she felt Olivia sigh. “I wasn’t sure if I should bring this up tonight, but I think we need to do something about Mia…”

Blinking awake, the blonde tilted her head to look up at her wife, whose deep brown eyes were filled with worry. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I know that she’s always been a bit of a perfectionist. And it never seemed like a problem. Like, you’re one too and if anything, it’s a cute albeit occasionally annoying trait,” she explained, trying to lighten the mood. Alex rolled her eyes but nodded, indicating that Olivia should continue. “But lately – I don’t know, Al. When she was helping make cookies earlier, she just completely broke down. Started crying because she couldn’t get them to be perfect. I’m worried…”

“Liv, it’s just cookies…” the blonde replied, sitting up.

“That’s just it, Alex. It was such a little thing but to her, it was a huge deal. She couldn’t even finish making them, she was so upset. I just… something doesn’t feel right.”

The younger woman pursed her lips. It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed Mia’s behavior before. It just hadn’t seemed like a big problem… Or at least she didn’t want to think it was one. “What do you think we should do?”

Olivia exhaled heavily. “I’m not sure. Maybe talk to her about it? Or…” she paused, hesistating. “I don’t know maybe she should talk to someone…”

“Like a therapist?”

“Yeah…”

Alex stiffened. Her own upbringing had made her a bit remiss to the idea of therapy. According to the Cabots, airing your dirty laundry or problems to a complete stranger was just plain unheard of. Alex had seen a therapist to cope with PTSD after the Velez and WPP situation, but she had never quite felt comfortable doing so. And it wasn’t like her daughter had experienced something traumatic like that… That said, she knew that her wife had her own resistances to therapy. So if Olivia was suggesting it, she really must think that something was wrong.

“You think it’s that bad?”

Olivia shrugged. “I just don’t want it to get worse. She used to be such a happy kid, but lately something is just different.”

Alex nodded, absentmindedly drawing her fingertip along Olivia’s palm. “So we’ll call someone?”

“I was thinking of asking Huang actually. He was transferred back to the City by the FBI. At least it’s someone we both know then. Like, we’ve seen him talk to kids.”

“I would be comfortable with Huang.”

“Okay,” Olivia replied, giving the blonde’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll give him a call in the morning.”


	9. Townhouse Incident

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. Some dialogue taken from “Townhouse Incident”

A/N:

(1) I’ve updated my profile to include a place where I’ll list suggested prompts for this series so that I can keep track of them. Feel free to review with suggestions or send me a PM with oneshots that you would like to see!

(2) One thing I struggle with most with keeping track of its everyone’s exact age. So, from here on out, for future reference, here is everyone’s names and birthdays:  
Olivia Margaret Cabot-Benson: February 7, 1968 (cannon name and birthday)  
Alexandra Louise Cabot-Benson: September 23, 1974 (Stephanie March’s birth year)  
Amelia Serena “Mia” Cabot-Benson: July 9, 2009  
Maxwell Alexander Cabot-Benson: October 27, 2010 – October 27, 2010  
Sadie Caroline Cabot-Benson: January 01, 2012  
Noah Porter Cabot-Benson: December 20, 2013

(3) This oneshot will be based on “Townhouse Incident” – I’ve really enjoyed other AUs of this episode and here’s my take on what might have happened if Alex and Olivia were married and had kids when all of this went down.

Townhouse Incident

Timeline: January 13, 2016 (airdate of “Townhouse Incident”)  
Ages: Olivia (47), Alex (41), Mia (6), Sadie (4), Noah (2)

“Alright is everyone ready to go?” Olivia called out to her brood. It was everyone’s first day back to school and, in Noah’s case, daycare after winter vacation. It had been an enjoyable hiatus from the hustle and bustle of busy schedules, and all of the Cabot-Bensons had gotten to spend a great deal of quality time together – a luxury none of them took for granted. In fact, whereas most parents probably counted down the end of winter break, Olivia would have been very content to have another week or two of family time. Alas, this was not the present reality and – if anything – the adjustment back to their regimen was proving a bit difficult.

As if on cue, Sadie came bolting into the living room, backpack in hand. Although they were both only children themselves, both Olivia and Alex had heard of “middle child syndrome,” and it appeared that their own younger daughter had adopted some of its characteristics. Unlike her reserved – although sometimes bossy – older sister and docile younger brother, Sadie had a bit of a mischievous streak. Although everyone loved her vibrant spirit and entertaining personality, she also had a stubborn streak and a penchant for trying to get attention.

Presently, the last seemed quite true, as the little brunette stood in front of her mother in a hodgepodge of mismatched clothing, including one brown boot and one pink ballet flat. Olivia exhaled, preparing herself for the uphill battle.

“That’s quite an outfit you have there, Sadie” she observed, trying to conceal her slight amusement at the situation.

The little girl grinned widely. “It’s da stuff I gotted for my birthday!”

“Got, baby,” Olivia corrected gently. “And I can see that! But wouldn’t it be a better idea to not wear all of your new clothes at once? This way today is not the only special day you get to wear something new.”

Sadie shook her head and explained her logic as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Today is EXTRA special ‘cause I’m wearing everything new.”

Olivia glanced up at the clock. 7:33. They were already running behind. Dragging her fingers through her hair, she sighed. “Ah, I see. But Sadie, a lot of those things don’t match each other. And it’s a lot of layers, hun. You’re gonna get hot.”

“No I won’t!” the tiny girl replied with a pout. As a staring match between the two brunettes ensued, the timer on the expresso machine went off, and Alex came darting into the room, slipping on one of her stilettos in route. She stopped abruptly when she noticed Sadie’s ensemble.

“Sadie, what in the world are you…”

Olivia waved her hand at the blonde. “Don’t worry, Mama. You’re running late for work. Sadie here was just about to change into her polka dot leggings and purple sweater. Isn’t that right, Sadie?” She gave her wife a smirk.

Sadie exhaled heavily. “Fineeee,” she relented, before scurrying off back to hers and Mia’s room.

“God help us when she’s a teenager,” Olivia sighed, turning towards Alex, who was in the process of putting her coffee into a to-go cup.

“If she doesn’t kill us with her antics long before that,” the blonde quipped, earning a chuckle from her wife. “Are you sure you can handle them all this morning?”

“Yeah, no pressing cases, and I don’t have to be at the conference for another couple of hours. You go, get to court,” Olivia said, holding up Alex’s peacoat so the attorney could slip into it.

“Thanks, babe. I’ll pick us up something for dinner? Alfredo’s?”

“Sounds perfect,” the brunette replied, placing a quick kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“Okay, great.” She raised her voice to call out to the kids, “Alright everyone, I’m heading to court. I love you all! Have a good day at school and listen to Mommy!” She gave her wife one last smile. “Love you.”  
“I love you, too.”

A few minutes later, the crew was just about ready, with Mia and Sadie helping Noah put on his shoes while Olivia finished cramming the last bit of lunches into their bags. When she heard a knock at the door, she furrowed her brow. They weren’t expecting company. Maybe Alex had forgotten her keys? Looking through the peephole, she found their nanny, Lucy.

“Hey Lucy,” she greeted, pulling open the door and allowing the young woman inside. “I’m sorry, did we get our signals crossed? I thought I mentioned I could drop the kids off today…”

“No, no you did. I – um. I stopped by the Crivello’s about fifteen minutes ago. They’re the other family that I work for. There are two kids. I walk the younger boy, Luca, to school. I went over this morning to pick him up and his mom sent me away. She was acting really strange. Something was… off.”

Olivia furrowed her brow and glanced at the clock. 7:54. “How do you mean?”

“Her voice was really shaky. She was really nervous. There were red marks on her neck too. And her husband was there, yelling.” Lucy inhaled, clearly shaken herself. “Maybe you could swing by?”

Olivia paused but nodded. “Yeah, of course.” She stood up and walked back to the living room, Lucy following her. “Hey guys, I actually have to head to work now. But Lucy is here, and she’s going to take you all to school, okay?”

At the mention of their nanny’s name, the three children grinned and ran over to her shouting hellos, hugging her legs. They hadn’t seen Lucy in several days and adored her. Turning to Olivia, they said their goodbyes for the day, a mix of “Bye Mommy” and “love yous.”

About ten minutes later, Olivia walked up to the Crivello’s front door, knocking on its black wood. After a few moments, the door knob jiggled and Lisa Crivello pulled the door slightly ajar. A bit peculiar indeed…

“Hi, Lisa. Olivia Benson.”

“Sure, you’re Noah’s mom. Lucy’s not here…”

“Actually I stopped by to speak with you.”

Lisa looked apologetic. “It’s a bad day. Uh, Luca’s sick.”

“Yeah,” Olivia replied, clearly not believing the woman, eyes betraying concern. After all, Lisa didn’t seem to find it odd that she wanted to talk, which was strange considering the two had never met in person. More and more, her gut told her that something was wrong. Every red flag for a DV case was being waved. “You have a – you have a little cut there, over your eye…”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” the other woman replied, waving her hand flippantly. “I should go,” she stated, beginning to close the door.

“So how about I come back later?”

Lisa paused, as though she was listening to something. “Actually, why not just come in now?” she said, taking a step back.

“Okay,” the brunette said with a soft smile, glad that the woman seemed to be relaxing slightly. Suddenly, however, the door slammed shut behind her, and before she could react, a man pinned her back against the wood by her shoulders.

“Hey, how you doing?” he breathed. Olivia looked around, eyes widening as she saw a young red-head holding Lisa in a choke-hold, pistol pointed straight at her. “Show me your hands!” the man demanded.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Olivia replied, as calmly as she could muster. Over the man’s shoulder, she noted the Crivello’s older teenage daughter standing there petrified. This wasn’t DV. This was a hostage situation. The lieutenant held her hands up. “Okay. You’re both in charge,” she said to the intruders. 

“One move, and I’ll blow a hole right through your face,” the man said, grazing the tip of his gun against her cheek. Olivia closed her eyes as she felt the damp heat of his breath against her neck and the cool metal near her temple, trying to steady herself. She knew what to do. She had been in situations like this before.

“I’m sorry,” Lisa whimpered, holding back tears.

The man took a step backwards, his gun still poised on Olivia’s chest. Another man in a knit hat entered the room, and the lieutenant wondered just how many intruders there were, wracking her mind to figure out a game plan. Right now, given the erraticness of the group, transparency seemed best.

“My name is Olivia Benson,” she began to explain as the new man grabbed her purse and shook its contents onto the ground. “And I’m here by chance, but I’m a New York City police officer.” The three looked at each other nervously. Clearly they were not pros… 

“You armed?” the man with the gun finally growled.

“I am,” Olivia replied calmly, careful not to move. “My weapon is holstered right here on my right hip,” she explained, gesturing with her chin. The man had his accomplice grab her weapon and continued to pat her down, the inappropriateness of his groping near her chest not going unnoticed. Olivia grimaced when he pulled out her cell phone, knowing it was her only chance to get in touch with the squad, who thought she wasn’t coming in today because of a conference. As she considered her next moves, more about what was going on was revealed: the intruders discussed looking for cash and beating Mr. Crivello until he told them of its location. Meanwhile, the ringleader examined her phone.

“Who all knows you’re here?”

“No one.”

The man looked at her skeptically. “You better not be lying to me.”

“I’m not lying to you.”

“These your kids?” he asked, holding up the illuminated iPhone screen in her direction. Her homescreen was a picture of the Mia, Sadie, and Noah that they had taken a couple of weeks ago at Christmas. It was nighttime after a long day of fun, and the three had been watching a movie. They were curled up under a blanket on the couch and had all dozed off, the Christmas tree twinkling behind them. Alex had captured the candid, and it soon became one of Olivia’s favorites. The brunette felt her resolve wavering at the mention of her children, her body beginning to shake. She forced the tears that were beginning to pool from falling from her eyes. She had to be strong right now. She had to be strong for them.

“Hmm?”

“They are,” she finally managed.

“Good,” the man said sadistically. “Means that you don’t want to die.”

~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*

“Congratulations, you found another unarmed black man. I suppose we should be grateful that you didn’t shoot him” the defense attorney quipped at an unamused Fin, Dodds, and Barba.

“He had a gun on him,” Fin stated matter-of-factly. 

“Did he? Who planted it?”

“Don’t troll,” Barba shot back. “This is your client’s third rape. We have multiple IDs,” he explained before taking a sip of his drink.

“DNA too,” Dodds added. “Forensics will confirm.”

Attempting to play in cool, the defender raised a hand to stop further explanation. “Save it for the judge. May I?”

Barba nodded, the three men watching as he entered the interrogation room to speak with his client. “Nice work. Where’s Liv?” the prosecutor asked once the door slammed shut.

“She’s still at the DNA conference.”

“No, she’s not. I was there all morning. I would have seen her,” Barba clarified.

Fin furrowed his brow and looked to Dodds, who seemed equally perplexed by their lieutenant’s whereabouts. Clarification, however, came soon after, when Lucy arrived at the precinct.

“Guys, we got a problem here,” Carisi alerted the rest of the squad, the young woman in tow. “Liv just texted this to her babysitter,” he explained, handing Lucy’s phone to Fin.

“Stuck at precinct all day. Pick up William at day care. He has a playdate with Lewis today,” Fin read aloud.

“William Lewis?” Barba pondered, straightening up. “That’s not good. When did you last hear from her?”

“I texted her a few hours ago about the push-in rapist. She answered back,” Dodds assured.

“But you didn’t actually speak to her?” the prosecutor clarified. “And now she’s sending us a text about William Lewis?”

“That’s got to be a code for 1013,” Fin elaborated.

“Lucy said that she checked on a neighbor this morning,” Carisi added. He turned to the babysitter. “Where?”

“Upper West Side. 73rd and Amsterdam.”

“Fin, Carisi – get over there now,” Dodds commanded, “Lay low. We’re not sure what is going on and the situation could escalate.

Fin nodded. “You got it, Sarg,” he replied before he and Carisi exited the building, guiding Lucy out on their way.

The situation did escalate. No more than 20 minutes later, Carisi called in to an awaiting Dodds and Barba that it was a hostage situation and that Olivia was inside with two armed perps and the Crivello’s two children.

“I’ll call 1PP. Get ESU down there immediately. Don’t move until they’re there,” Dodds said firmly into the phone before hanging up. He dialed in, alerting the police chief of the emergency while gathering up his belongings to head to the scene. When he hung up and turned towards the door, Barba’s arm caught him.

“Someone has to tell Cabot.”

~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*  
Rushing through the corridor of the courthouse, Dodds and Barba hurried to locate the courtroom that Alex was in.

“I checked the docket. She should be at the end of the hall with Petrovsky,” Barba offered, slightly out of breath. Before they could reach the room, however, they stumbled into the aforementioned judge.

“Gentlemen,” she said looking at them curiously, perking an eyebrow. “Did your mothers not teach you about running indoors?”

“Apologies, Judge,” Dodds said apologetically. “We were actually heading to your courtroom. Have you seen ADA Cabot?”

“We’ve just recessed for lunch. I believe she went into one of the reading rooms to prepare for a cross-examination…” The older woman looked to see if anyone was listening, knowing how quickly gossip spread in the courthouse, and lowered her voice. “Is something wrong?”

Dodds looked to Barba. “We just need to speak with her,” the attorney fibbed.

“Rafael, I’m a judge. I know when people are lying,” Petrovsky scolded. “What is this about…” She frowned as a thought crossed her mind. “Is Olivia alright…”

Barba sighed. “Olivia’s being held hostage in a civilian’s home. Two armed perps. Two kids in the house. ESU is on the way.”

Petrovsky’s brown eyes widened. “She should still be on this floor. We just recessed. Go. I’ll call a recess until tomorrow.”

Dress shoes slippery on the marble floor, they hurried into the hall into the library. The attendant looked at the two out-of-breath men curiously. “ADA Cabot?” Barba asked, not wasting any more time to explain. 

“Room 4.”

The two men found the blonde attorney bent over a legal pad, fountain pen poised. A constitutional law sat on one side of her, an untouched salad on the other. When they opened the door, she and her assistant looked up.

Alex was no longer SVU’s ADA. When Olivia was promoted, they figured the conflict of interest was too much. Further, she had advanced quickly with her career in the past couple of years and as a result was offered a position as a DA for homicide.

Therefore, an unplanned visit from Dodds and Barba certainly couldn’t mean anything good.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, a slight note of panic in her voice.

“Did you know Olivia went to check on one of the other family’s Lucy sits for this morning?” Dodds asked. “The Crivellos.”

Alex furrowed her brow. “No. She was about to take the kids to school when I left. What the hell is going on,” she growled, standing up.

“The family was being held hostage by gunmen. Liv didn’t know. She walked right into it…” Barba began to explain.

Alex paled, her legs wobbling as she felt herself getting nauseous. “Is she…”

“She’s okay,” Barba reassured, allowing the blonde to release a slight breath. “But she’s still inside with the two kids. We’re going down there now.”

“I’m coming with you,” Alex asserted, grabbing her coat and striding across the room.

“Alex,” Dodds said, giving her a serious look, “She can’t know you’re there. She’ll lose focus…”

“She’s my wife. I know that, Sergeant,” Alex spat icily. “Macey, get in touch with Petrovsky. Tell her it’s an emergency…”

“We ran into her,” Barba interrupted, “Court’s in recess.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*

When they arrived on the scene, one of the perps had just been apprehended by Fin and Carisi.

“Ralph Volkov. Assault, drunk driving. Fired by Crivello’s grocery chain after two failed drug tests,” Dodds said, filling the two attorneys in on his phone call.

“A revenge plan?” Barba speculated.

Alex followed. “But he’s not the ringleader?”

“No,” Dodds replied solemnly, knowing the situation was still grave. 

The trio stepped into one of the ESU vans, where Tucker was on the phone trying to get in touch with Joe. Ralph, meanwhile, was explaining the situation. “Yeah this was his idea. I didn’t want to hurt them. We just – we needed the money.”

“Hello, Ralph,” Barba greeted the beanie-clad man with sarcastic chipperness. “I’m Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba. So who’s ‘we’?”

The man looked up at him warily, followed by Dodds and Cabot who stood off to the side, all watching him intensely.

“Me and my sister Roxie. Our—our mother, she—she needs a new hip. She can hardly walk.”

“Roxie’s the one in the house now?” the sergeant clarified.

“Yeah, but she didn’t want to hurt anyone either. That’s all on Joe.” From her position near Dodds, Alex struggled not to roll her eyes at the imbecilic man in front of her. While he was more pathetic than anything else, she wanted to strangle him for putting her wife into the current situation. She watched as Ralph became more and more frightened as the reality of what was going on sunk in, with Barba explaining how he would be charged with felony murder, God forbid anyone was killed. The blonde shuddered at the thought, forcing herself to focus on the moment at hand. To see if there was anything she could do to assist in the situation even though she had been instructed to just stand by.

Barba and the rest of the squad continued to pry information out of Ralph, searching through his phone. Finding an image of Joe on the U.S. Military Veteran Database. Dishonorable discharge. Alex allowed the memory of his face to be burned into her brain.

“Joe’s about to call Ralph. That’s you,” Tucker interrupted, walking across the truck with a glower.

“Yeah, but this wasn’t my idea,” Ralph said looking up at him.

“Play along. Tell him you have the money. And to ask the negotiator to let you two hook up safely,” Tucker instructed as Ralph’s cell phone began to vibrate.

“I don’t think I should get involved…”

That was the last straw for Alex. In one swift move, she bent down in front of Ralph and gripped the neck of his shirt with a perfectly manicured hand. “Let me tell you something, Ralph,” she growled, the rest of the squad looking at the two in stunned silence, unsure of how to intervene. “You do one useful thing in your whole miserable existence, pick up that phone, and follow Tucker’s instructions. Do you hear me?” she asked with a piercing glare.

Ralph shuddered slightly under her gaze, himself not daring to move other than to give her a small nod. Alex stood to her feet and strode back to her position as Dodd’s handed Ralph his cell phone. The look Barba was giving her assured her she would hear about it later, but right now, as the scraggly man talked to his accomplice, it didn’t matter.

Things went downhill fast, however, when Ralph revealed to Joe that he had been captured. The man had called back in a pure rage, demanding that both Ralph and the money be brought to the house. Alex knew that wouldn’t be acceptable to the DA’s office or to ESU. It wasn’t how these negotiations worked. She had been in Barba’s position before and had put her foot down plenty of times with agreements. But now, she only wished there was some type of loophole. Her only solace was the sound of Olivia’s voice. It took all of her willpower to not call out to her, to not check in about her condition. She knew, however, that her wife’s only chance was for no more surprises to occur.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. A reality that slapped Alex in the face as she watched in horror about twenty minutes later as a red-headed young woman surrendered.

~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*

Olivia tried to maintain a strong face, but inside she was completely and utterly terrified. Joe was unhinged, his behavior becoming more and more erratic and unpredictably since the cops had arrived, since he had taken more drugs, since Roxie left…

As much as she had told Roxie to leave for her own good, she soon became aware of its aftermath for those still in the townhouse. Now she was standing there, the tip of Joe’s gun pressed against the back of her head, both of the Crivello children flanking either of her sides, preparing to walk outside.

She knew ESU would be poised to shoot. Even if Tucker had agreed to move them backwards, she was aware that it was a bit of a false promise and that most of the situation would be out of his hands at this point. Olivia knew they wouldn’t try to shoot him if he held his gun in place. That they wouldn’t try to beat his trigger finger with her standing there. But the notion of getting into that SUV with him didn’t sit with her well either. They would never let Joe leave the scene like he expected they would, and she knew that realization would likely be the last straw. Olivia shuddered at the thought, pushing it out of her head. She had to come up with a plan. And fast.

~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*Page Break~*~*

Alex watched from far behind ESU’s barricade as her wife descended the stairs of the townhouse. From her position next to Barba, she could have easily seen the two terrified children. She could have seen the details of Joe’s amped up face. But she didn’t. Right now, her eyes were trained on Olivia. Trained on her wife and the mother of her children. Trained on the gun that pressed against the back of her head. Trained on her deep brown eyes which were filled with complete and total exhausted fear.

Alex felt her chest tightening in fear, the gravity of the situation becoming so tangibly apparent.   
She didn’t dare move a muscle, as through that movement would trigger Joe’s finger itself.

The padding of feet broke her out of her trance. The children. He had released the two Crivello children and they were running, crying, running as fast as they could, ducking under the line of ESU police and into the embrace of two officers.

That just left Olivia.

Things weren’t going Joe’s way. That much was clear. And Alex garnered that, as much of an deluded idiot as he might be, Joe likely knew that too. Which is why, in spite of the brave face she was putting on, Alex knew that Olivia was terrified.

The blonde didn’t even feel the tears running down her cheeks as her wife took another step towards the car, like a slow walk to death.

Olivia stopped after a couple of small paces. Her lips were moving, talking. It was silent as everyone watched. Alex strained her ears to try to hear what her wife was saying, but she was too far away. Whatever she was saying, however, Joe was clearly growing more and more disgruntled, wanting to get into the car and slam the pedal to the ground. He hedged, however, allowing Olivia to spin around and clock him clear across the face. And that was all that it took.

Bang! A shot rang out.

Alex’s world went into slow motion. “Lieutenant!” she heard Dodd’s call out, rushing onto the scene. The flock of black-clad ESU officers also closed in.

“Oh my god,” Alex breathed, coming back into her body. With Barba calling out her name to wait, she ran through the crowd and towards the scene. Towards Olivia. She had seen someone fall to the ground. She entire heart had gone with them. And now Alex needed to know that her wife was alive.

She almost collapsed with relief as it became clear that Olivia was still standing, trying to steady her shaking legs to brace herself as Tucker and Carisi grabbed her, rushing her away from where Joe’s body lay, blood oozing from his skull.

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” the brunette lieutenant kept repeating, like a mantra, as she was guided back towards the van. Back towards Alex.

The attorney ran to her. Not caring for one second about protocol or Barba, who was calling her to hang back. She pushed past the uniformed officers until she was within reach of Olivia, grabbing her biceps with tears streaming down her face.

Olivia flinched at first, adrenaline still coursing through her system, but Alex felt some of the tension leave her wife’s body as she realized that it was Alex. That she was safe. She fell against Alex’s body, gripping one of the attorney’s pale hands tightly.

“Where are the kids?” she asked, voice still panic-striken.

“They’re okay,” Carisi assured.

“But where are they?” Olivia asked, looking into Alex’s eyes.

The blonde used her free hand to gently caress the side of the brunette’s face, which she now noticed was deeply cut and bruised. “They’re okay, baby. They’re with Lucy at home right now.”

“Please. I need to see them,” Olivia begged, eyes closed as she rested her head tiredly against Alex’s palm.

Tucker looked aside, slightly uncomfortable witnessing the intimacy between the two women. He cleared his throat. “Lieutenant, you need to be examined for injuries. You should go to the hospital…”

Olivia gave Alex a fearful look and the attorney frowned. “We’ll get you looked at by the EMTs. Quickly. And then we’ll go home and be with the kids, okay sweetheart?” Olivia nodded, allowing herself to be guided towards the ambulance as Alex gave Tucker a look that foreclosed any further prodding that Olivia go to the hospital. Right now, seeing their children was the best care that Olivia could receive.

Carisi drove them. It was clear from Olivia’s disposition that she couldn’t leave Alex’s side, so the two women crawled into the back of the squad car, Alex never letting go of her wife’s hand. They quickly traveled the few blocks to the family’s home, thanking the detective as they exited the car. Alex breathed a sigh of relief that the press hadn’t noticed to follow them in all of the shuffle. When they got to the front door, Olivia turned to Alex and finally spoke, not having done so since she was examined by the EMTs. “My face… the kids…”

Alex squeezed the brunette’s hand. “It’s okay. We’ll explain to them that you’re okay,” the attorney assured. They opened the door to the entry, making their way down the hall. Before they could reach the living room, their three children, followed by Lucy, came bounding around the corner.

“Mommy! Mama,” the little ones called out. Their eyes grew wide as they noted their mother’s bedraggled appearance, the injuries on her face clear to them.

Mia’s lower lip wavered, sensing the tension in the room. “What happened to Mommy?” she asked on the verge of tears.

“Shh, sweet girl,” Olivia comforted, squatting down and opening her arms. “A bad guy hit me today, but everything is alright. Just a bruise,” she reassured, pulling the little blonde into a hug.

“Did ya catch him, Mommy?” Sadie asked, approaching Olivia with Noah.

“Yeah baby, we caught him,” Olivia sighed, embracing her other two children as well. After a few moments of holding her children tightly, of breathing in the smell of their Loreal shampoo and feeling one of Noah’s slobbering kisses against her cheek, she smiled and stood. The children, thankfully, seemed at ease after the lieutenant’s simple explanation of her injuries. After all, they had seen their mother come home injured from work before. The gravity of this particular situation went right over their heads.

“Mommy, Mama, do you wanna finish watching Cars with us?” Mia asked.

“Vroom vroom!” Noah said excitedly.

Olivia chuckled. “That’s right, Noah, my smart boy!” she praised. “We’ll be right in, babies. We just need to talk to Lucy first,” the brunette said, nodding towards the guilty-looking sitter. “Give her a hug bye-bye.” 

When the kids had scurried off, Lucy finally made eye-contact with Olivia, tears filling her eyes. “Liv, I’m so sor-”

Olivia shook her head, placing a comforting hand on the younger woman’s arm. “No, Lucy, you did nothing wrong.”

“But-”

“Olivia’s right, Lucy,” Alex interjected. “If you hadn’t told her, the Crivellos… it could have been so much worse.” The lieutenant nodded in agreement.

“I’m just so glad you are okay,” Lucy said, hugging Olivia tightly.

“Me too,” the lieutenant replied.

“I’ll let you all have the rest of your evening together,” Lucy said, not wanting to interrupt the family’s time together. “Do you want me to take them to school again tomorrow?”

Alex shook her head. “We’re going to take the next couple of days off,” she explained, wrapping her arm around Olivia. The younger sitter nodded understandingly. “But we’ll see you Monday morning?”

“I’ll see you then. Just call me if you need anything!”

“We will. Thank you, Lucy. Let us know that you get home safe.”

The couple headed into the living room, smiling at the sight of their three children huddled around a large bowl of popcorn that their babysitter had made them. “Mama, Mommy, we saved ya some!” Sadie exclaimed, holding out a palmful of soggy popcorn to show them.

“And we kept the movie paused. We can restart it if you want though,” Mia offered.

“No that’s alright guys,” Olivia said, placing a kiss on her daughters’ heads and scooping Noah into her arms. “You can start it from here.”

“And then how about you guys hop up on the bed and cuddle with your Mommy while I go heat up some mac n cheese?” Alex asked, the two girls nodded before curling up next to the lieutenant. Alex gave each of the four a kiss on the forehead, her lips lingering on Olivia’s a moment longer. It was killing her to move but a step away from her wife, but she knew for the sake of the kids it was best to keep things as normal as possible. She and Olivia would talk as soon as they had a moment alone. For now, her heart swelled as she watched the loves of her life cuddled up on the couch with one another. Home and safe.

Although it was seldom that they did so, that night Olivia and Alex let the kids sleep in their bed with them, neither wanting them out of their sight. Neither woman got too much sleep. Sadie had a penchant for kicking in her sleep, her foot position directly against Alex’s side that night. On top of that, every couple of hours Olivia woke from a restless sleep because of an endless stream of nightmares. Alex would reach over the kids to grab her hand, stroking her thumb across the lieutenant’s sweaty palm as she lulled her through her panic attacks. Even still, the couple spent the majority of the night watching over their children, both afraid to encounter the terrifying images that haunted their sleep.

The next morning, they both took the kids to school and daycare. They had debated keeping them home, but Olivia ultimately insisted that keeping their schedule was important. She didn’t want them to sense that something bad had happened beyond the degree to which they already had. Their walk home was silent, both knowing the difficult conversation that loomed. When they arrived back at their townhouse, Alex tossed her coat over the back of the couch and gestured sheepishly towards the kitchen. “Do you uh – I can make you something if you’d like. I know you didn’t eat much last night.”

Olivia shook her head. “Can we just…” she trailed off, gesturing upstairs.

Alex nodded. “Of course, baby,” she replied, taking the brunette’s hand. They walked upstairs and into their bedroom, taking a seat next to each other on the bed. Although they continued holding hands, neither of them looked at each other for a moment, a looming tenseness filling the space. 

Finally Olivia turned to Alex, revealing tear-filled brown eyes. “I – I was so scared.”

Alex let out a small whimper, pulling the brunette into an embrace, holding her wife’s body as it finally wracked with sobs. Everything that Olivia had held in – for the sake of the Crivellos, for the sake of the squad, for the sake of Lucy, for the sake of the kids – was now coming out in the safety of her wife’s arms. Alex rubbed a comforting hand in smooth circles on Olivia’s back, forcing herself to remain strong for her wife in that moment. Eventually Olivia calmed slightly, pulling back to look at Alex. “All I could think about was you and the kids.” She paused. “When he uh – when he first grabbed me – J-Joe took my phone and he say their picture. He said it was good that I had a family because that meant that I didn’t want to die…” she trailed off, looking aside. Alex swallowed heavily, tracing her fingers gently down the uninjured side of Olivia’s jaw. “I – I didn’t know if this was going to – turn out like it did. Usually I have a sense that things will be okay, even if it’s tense. But this time…” She started sobbing again, this time the blonde joining in suite as she realized just how close she had come to losing her wife yesterday.

“I was so afraid that we were going to lose you,” Alex finally admitted, gripping the brunette tightly. Olivia thought back to the intense pain that she experienced when Alex was shot all of those years ago, the years with WPP when she didn’t know if she would ever see the blonde again. She shuddered as she realized just how terrified her wife would have been and curled her fingers in her light tresses, pulling Alex’s head gently against her chest, inadvertently guiding the woman to her pounding heartbeat. 

Alex gripped at Olivia’s sweater as she worked on calming down. She looked up and found the brunette’s brown eyes looking at her, full of worry. Leave it to Olivia to go through something so traumatic and be concerned about her well-being, Alex thought to herself. The exact amount of intangible love that the blonde had for her wife swell within her, and she curled a hand around the back of the lieutenant’s neck, pulling her into a fierce kiss. They embraced, the saltiness of both of their tears melding together and they pulled closer and closer, as though they were trying to intertwine their bodies so as to never separate.

They finally pulled apart and Olivia looked at her wife, eyes glazed with emotions. “Alex, please,” she asked softly.

Wordlessly, Alex guided Olivia back onto the bed, removing her own sweater and bra. She quickly rid Olivia of her own garments, and soon both women were completely bare, skin to skin, olive mixed with ivory.

Alex settled into the curves of Olivia’s body as she peppered her with kisses, memorizing each and every inch of the brunette with her lips. She traced her fingers gently along the bruised skin that had purpled overnight, through Olivia’s brunette locks, across her lips. She guided her hand down, slowly over the lieutenant’s taunt abdomen, feeling her shudder as she guided her hand to the patch of dark curls between her legs.

Kissing Olivia deeply, Alex began to work her fingers, guiding them around the brunette’s core. After a few moments, Olivia matched her positioning, slipping her own fingers through the blonde’s folds, earning a gasp.

A shudder. A pant. A caress.

The women continued to move against one another’s bodies. While they had a health sex life, full of passionate love-making, times like this were different. It was as though sex itself was something else entirely. They ebbed and flowed together, gripping each other tightly as the moved closer and closer to intense climaxes that left them panting and sweat-covered, Alex kissing Olivia’s tears away.

After several minutes of silence, they looked at each other once more. Alex wanted to tell Olivia to quit. That she had done enough over the years. Enough and far more. She knew that the same thought was running through the lieutenant’s mind. But Alex would never say that to her. She knew just how entwined Olivia was with this job. Her empathy. Her passion. The things that terrified her most were also some of the things that she loved most about the brunette. So the only thing she said was “I love you.”

Olivia didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Instead, she pressed a firm kiss against the attorney’s forehead, pulling her close as they began to drift asleep, both with hands resting over the other’s heart.

A/N: A long one for you all! I’m not super crazy with how it turned out, but hopefully it’s okay. Please review!


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